


The Tie that Binds

by Hazbin_JellicleQueen33



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust Needs a Hug (Hazbin Hotel), Fluff and Angst, How do I tag?, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Red String of Fate, Soulmate AU, and bullying, glimpses of human lives, mentions of abuse, possibly, radiodust - Freeform, slow burn?, we will see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:33:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26592217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazbin_JellicleQueen33/pseuds/Hazbin_JellicleQueen33
Summary: Two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break...but what about in Hell where soulmates are all but unheard of?Contains Possible triggers!!! See authors note before reading!!
Relationships: Alastor/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 201





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> **CAUTION!!!!!! PARTS OF THIS STORY MAY INVOLVE TRIGGERS SUCH AS BULLYING, MENTIONS OF MURDER, ABUSE AND DRUG USE!!!! AS THE STORY GOES ON I WILL ADD ANY MORE POSSIBLE TRIGGERS THAT POP UP AND I WILL ADD A WARNING TO EACH CHAPTER THAT CONTAINS THEM!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!!**
> 
> **Bonus note!!:** Anyone that can recognize the last name I gave human Alastor without looking it up gets a cookie!!

Soulmates, two people destined to be together, two halves of one soul in different bodies searching for the other to be complete. However you described it Alastor Laveau didn't buy into it for most of his life. He’d grown up in a small Louisiana town, the target of bullying from other children and townspeople alike simply for the fact he and his mother were different. While most children began seeing their red strings looped around their hands as early as age 5 Alastor was given another reason to be outcast, his string never appeared. He’d asked his mother one night if that meant he didn’t have a soulmate. She simply smiled, sat with him on his bed, held him close and told him it could mean many things, anything from his soulmate simply not being born yet to being a late bloomer. In the end she always promised he’d get his string one day.

His mother hadn’t been wrong Alastor discovered many years later. He was 17, living alone in New Orleans after illness had taken his mother’s life. By day he was a happy and charming up and coming radio host, but at night like a true doctor Jekyll and Hyde situation he was the illusive serial killer the authorities couldn’t seem to track down.

It had been a fairly normal night. He’d been leaning on the wall of a building in town simply watching people walk by waiting for a target. He’d spotted one, a pretty young lady walking all on her lonesome down the street headed right for him. Putting on his best charming smile he began to sing softly, apart from his accent his singing never failed to be a perfect lure. Without fail the young bird noticed him and was drawn like a moth to a flame.

It wasn’t until much later when he was disposing of the evidence of his kill in the bayou that he noticed a single strand of bright crimson on his wrist that would not wipe away. He moved his wrist closer to his face for a better look wondering if he’d cut himself until he noticed it extended from his wrist and stretched as far as he could see into the bayou. His string had finally appeared, his soulmate had finally entered the world and it seemed they were far away from New Orleans. While the knowledge of having a soulmate after all was a slight comfort Alastor never made any effort to follow the red string.

Some nights after disposing of a kill he’d sit on the edge of the bayou watching the stars and looking at the thin red line around his wrist wondering what his soulmate was probably like. He’d always sigh and light a cigarette coming to the same conclusion, probably a girl in the city that definitely wouldn’t understand or accept his killing. He would take a drag of the cigarette with a single chuckle, maybe she was a fan of his show if the station even reached outside of Louisiana. No Alastor decided it was best for both parties that he didn’t try to follow the crimson thread, if only to save his soulmate from the horror and disappointment of being bound to a killer.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

Anthony Ragni was born into a New York mafia family, technically the baby of the family since his twin sister was five minutes older. He’d been able to see the red thread looped around his wrist from the time he was old enough to see rocks and it always made him happy as a child knowing he had a soulmate somewhere in the world...until he turned 10 and he learned a few things about himself. He and Molly had only been playing house, he was the father and she was the mother, but when he’d watched Molly climb their mother’s vanity to grab a tube of lipstick then put it on before she gave a wicked smirk advancing on him. She’d pinned him to the ground easily, mostly because he’d let her their father would have a fit if he hurt his sister, and applied the wine red color to his lips as well.

When he’d shoved her off of him and stood to wipe away the lipstick he paused seeing himself in the mirror...he liked how he looked with the lipstick, it made him look pretty like his mother and sister, even at 10 he could tell it brought out his dominant feminine face features. He quickly blocked those thoughts and wiped away the lipstick when he heard the front door slam open followed by his father’s heavy footfalls. Just weeks later he learned that not only did he like wearing makeup but he’d also begun to look at some of the boys at school the way most boys look at girls. He had no interest in any of the girls that would giggle and stare after him but he loved it when he’d wink at the boys and they’d blush looking stunned before either ignoring him or start calling him names.

A few years later, after secretly learning from Molly how to properly do makeup, Anthony was helping his mother with chores by putting away the laundry. He was in the process of placing Molly’s dresses in the closet when his fingers touched the soft cotton of one dress. He carefully lifted the garment and looked it over. It was made from a soft baby pink sheer type fabric, cinched at the waist, the sleeves though short were bell like, and it was dotted all over with strawberries. He remembered Molly’s disdain for the dress in private but she wore it once in a while to avoid hearing their father ask if she hadn’t liked her birthday gift.

Biting his lip he held the dress up against himself and moved to look in the mirror hung on Molly’s closet. His eyes widened as he took in how he looked just holding the dress. Swallowing thickly he lowered the dress and glanced out the door, it was only his mother and him home at the moment since his father and older brother were working and Molly was visiting a friend. Slowly he set the dress down long enough to pull his own shirt off then with a deep breath pulled on the dress. He counted to 3 before turning to look at the mirror. His heart skipped so many beats seeing his reflection. The pink of the dress gave his fair skin a pinkish tint, it helped his freckles stand out a bit more, it made the blue of his eyes stand out, and it hung off his frame far better than any time he’d seen Molly wear it. A blush covered his cheeks realizing he liked how it looked as he wrapped his arms around himself smiling and nearly crying. He never knew his mother had been standing in the hallway smiling a knowing mother's smile before returning to the kitchen to make his favorite dinner.

Anthony laid awake that night in the room he shared with his older brother examining the thread on his wrist looking out the window where it stretched for what he could guess were miles. He hoped his soulmate was someone who would accept him how he was, he dared not hope his soulmate was a man out loud but it was always in the back of his mind. The following day he hadn’t been careful enough when letting Molly dress him up and his father caught them. He grabbed Anthony by his arm and yanked him to his feet so hard his shoulder popped before striking him hard across the face sending the young boy to the floor clutching his bruised cheek.

His mother came into his room once his father had drunk himself to sleep, she gathered his battered body into her lap and held him close gently rocking as he cried into her shoulder for who knows how long. Once his sobs had died down to hiccuping sniffles she kissed his head and began singing a lullaby holding him close like he was a child again. If Anthony had known then that he’d wake up days later to discover she’d been killed by his father after an argument that stemmed from her defending Anthony from his father’s hateful words and lashing, he never would have fallen asleep.

After his mother’s death Anthony shoved away the urges to do his makeup and wear the dresses and skirts Molly had helped him sneak into the house, he instead threw himself into the family business by tagging along with his older brother on hits and collections. He appeared emotionally void by day but at night he’d lock himself in his closet and cry his heart out blaming himself for his mother’s death and hating himself for it.

Pouring salt into his still bleeding and healing heart when Anthony was 17 sitting in a dark car in an alley with his brother waiting for their target, the crimson thread on his wrist went incredibly slack before it began to fade away. Anthony’s eyes widened as he clawed at his wrist hoping to see the thread but it was gone, completely gone. His brother did nothing but placed a hand on his back as he began to sob in the passenger seat. He’d lost his mother and now he’d lost his soulmate before he’d even gotten the chance to start searching. The pain drove him to begin indulging in the drugs his family sold under the table and to take the risk of stealing liquor from his father’s various hidden bottles. By the time he was 20 Anthony was a family disappointment for more things than being gay but as he stood outside the drag club laughing and joking with his coworkers sharing a bottle of whiskey and passing around a joint he didn’t care in the slightest.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

Alastor wasn’t surprised in the slightest when he’d awoken in Hell, he figured years ago his actions would get him damned and it appeared he was right. Another thing he wasn’t surprised by was the fact that the red thread that attached him to his soulmate was no longer there, just like as a child it was missing but he couldn’t bring himself to mind much this time around as he began testing the new power that flowed through him and trying to sooth the almost aching hunger deep in his being.

It only took a few short years and the deaths of a handful of overlords and demi lords for Alastor to become an overlord himself with his name and actions becoming feared all across Hell. He thrived in the power and enjoyed the entertainment of seeing fear fill the eyes of his prey before he ended them. Much like his human life he almost missed the moment a little crimson thread appeared. At first he thought it was a strand of his new form’s red hair but as he tried to remove it he realized it looped around his wrist and extended out as far as he could see. His binding thread was back and it was leading him to his soulmate in Hell.

It was many years later when simply killing and consuming other demons was beginning to lose its entertainment value that Alastor decided to follow where his binding thread was leading him. It led him through the Gluttony circle, on the outskirts of the Pride and Wrath circles, and right to the heart of the Lust circuit. The radio demon sneered up at the large gleaming porn studio. Relationships, sexual or otherwise, had never been things Alastor was interested in even when he was alive he supposed it stemmed from being hated and exiled as a child unable to trust anyone but his mother.

He looked down at his wrist, regretfully the little red thread was stretched taut right through the goddy double doors. His soulmate was not only in Hell but was apparently a resident of the Lust Circuit and an employee of its reigning overlord Valentino to top it off. The radio demon sneered again as he turned on his heel and began walking away eager to leave the sex filled ring of Hell before he was spotted. As he walked his mind worked over the newly discovered knowledge. If his soulmate had simply been a resident of the Lust Circuit that could have been worked around but them being employed under the likes of Valentino meant there was a decent chance they were under contract and Alastor knew better than anyone contracts could be tricky to get around or break depending on the conditions.

As Alastor walked away he was unaware that back inside the studio, just inside the lobby, stood a tall spider demon that looked like he’d just seen the world for the first time. Angel had just exited the elevator from Val’s private penthouse office and was saying goodbye to a few of his coworkers when he felt the string on his wrist go taunt making him look down at it and follow it to the double doors at the entrance of the studio. He could see the silhouette of someone standing just beyond the frosted glass. His throat became tight and his heart skipped a beat, he was about to take a step closer but before he could the figure turned on its heels and walked away creating slack in the red thread once more. He’d had the red string once more when he woke in the heart of the Lust Circuit but he’d been swept up by Valentino’s pretty words and hollow promises before he could even entertain the idea of searching for his soulmate.

Watching the connection go slack again the spider demon sighed running a hand through his hair, no point in trying to chase them down now he had a meeting to get to, a very important meeting with the Princess of Hell herself. As he waved one last time to a few of the other workers he took his leave of the studio ignoring the deep longing in his chest as he walked the opposite direction his red thread was trailing.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

Alastor had no idea at first as he stood behind a crowd of other demons watching Hell’s own princess make a fool of herself on live television that when he’d made the choice to pay her little charity project a visit his crimson line was slowly growing more and more taunt. By the time he was standing on the front steps of the rundown hotel the string looked pulled so tight it might break, it surprised him to say the least but he had other matters to deal with and a deal to secure first.

Throwing himself into his normal theatrics proved an excellent distraction from the crimson thread as he laid out little trapping cards for the princess exposing only the necessary points of his plans. He’d almost had her before her companion, a female moth demon if he guessed right by her scent, pulled her to the side talking to her in a hushed tone. Despite being able to hear every hushed word he left them to their little chat looking at the many paintings on the walls, or at least appearing to. Out of the corner of his eye he was following his little string to see which of the three other demons it was connected to. 

His attention was pulled away from the thread by the princess stepping up to him again forcing him to shove the thoughts of a soulmate away into a neat little box once again.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

After returning to the hotel, still pouting from his scolding from Vaggie, Angel sat quietly in the lobby mulling over the day's events far too distracted to not only miss the knock on the door but also how his crimson thread pulled tight. He was finally pulled out of his thoughts when Vaggie dropped onto the sofa beside him growling and pouting in spanish under her breath, he raised a brow before looking by the front desk seeing Charlie was talking with another demon. Angel’s observation of the demon stopped after noting he seemed to be a deer type demon when he noticed the red thread attached to his wrist was pulled so tight it was a wonder it didn’t snap and it was connected to the other demon. His throat went dry but he quickly shook it off looking back to Vaggie.

“So what’s the deal with Smiles over there?”

The female moth demon looked at him like he’d suddenly grew a second head before jumping into telling a story that felt almost like a tall tale but as Angel listened he looked at the deer demon he couldn’t help his smile.

“He looks like a strawberry pimp.”

Vaggie just rolled her eyes before getting to her feet and going to Charlie leaving the spider demon on the sofa looking after the radio demon, his heart beating just a fraction faster as a cocky smirk crossed his lips, this would be easy. If he could make random johns on the street fall for him then this demented Bambi should be a cakewalk.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

Angel had been extremely wrong in thinking gaining Alastor’s attention would be easy that first day. It was damn near impossible, none of his normal sexual advances or jokes worked like they normally would, not even giving the deer demon his best babydoll eyes worked! He’d simply be either ignored or pushed back by the radio demon’s microphone with a simple ‘five foot rule darling.’ before Alastor would walk off. Angel was currently sitting at the bar tapping his claws on the counter leering into the acid green cosmo Husk had made for him.

“Yer gonna put holes in my bar now knock it the fuck of before I clip yer claws!”

Angel barely spared the old cat demon a glance but stilled his hand looking at the red string looped around his wrist.

“What the hell am I doin’ wrong? I’ve tried everything but none of it seems ta even turn his eye! What is he fuckin’ blind or somethin’?!”

Angel only realized he’d vocalized the thought when Husk raised a brow at him before shaking his head.

“If you were smart kid you’d just give up even tryin’. If Alastor aint interested or gettin’ some form of entertainment out of a partnership then you ain’t gonna get his attention.”

The spider blinked at the old cat for a moment before huffing out a sigh propping his chin on his hand leering at nothing in particular.

“I can provide plenty of entertainment if he’d give me a damn chance. It’s been two fuckin’ months!”

Hush rolled his eyes grabbing a glass and rag, he began to polish the clean glass.

“Has it ever occurred to you he might not see the other end of the damned line? That maybe this supposed connection is one sided?”

Angel thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“Nah if that were the case I’d be hackin’ up flowers. Flowers growin’ in a host’s lungs cause o’ one sided love is a whole other ball game.”

The old cat raised an eyebrow glancing at the spider out of the corner of his eye.

“An’ who told ya that one kid?”

Angel narrowed his eyes at the barkeep straightening up.

“My ma did when she was alive, but she said I didn’t have ta worry ‘bout it cause I had a sting.”

Husk snorted a little, shaking his head.

“That was topside kid, if ya haven’t noticed in the last how many years you’ve been here this is Hell, things work differently here.”

Angel crossed both sets of arms leering at the old cat before turning his head hearing a familiar static humming and the footfalls of a certain radio demon. Sure enough Alastor had a few papers in one hand, his other twirled his microphone, as he walked to the kitchen, his eyes never leaving the paper. That’s when something else his mother had said popped into his head and it was a perfect starting point if his normal tactics wouldn’t work. Husk set his glass down looking slightly confused by the smile that crossed the spider demon’s face but before he could say anything Angel threw back his drink in one go and got up from the stool giving him a two finger salute.

“Thanks for the drink Huskey and for the sagely advice!”

Husk shook his head again grabbing the cosmo glass and began cleaning it watching as Alastor left the kitchen his microphone now replaced with a cup of coffee, the radio demon didn't even acknowledge the spider demon slip past him and into the kitchen.


	2. II

Angel had quickly taken over the whole kitchen, barely bothering to move his own mess out of the way when one of the girls entered to try and make dinner. He was focused and doing the old recipes from foggy human childhood memories was hard enough without getting distracted. As he moved around the kitchen he could remember watching his mother, how she practically danced with how fast and confident she was in the kitchen, every action had grace and purpose like a perfectly timed dance. Angel had never been in the kitchen much, mostly because his father said it wasn’t a man’s place to be, but there were times late at night or when his father was away that his mother would bring him into the kitchen and together they would make special treats, just the two of them.

The spider demon finally snapped out of his trance when his treats were plated and he smiled proudly. Perfectly portioned out on one plate were three desserts. A small slice of tiramisu with cocoa dusted whipped cream on top, a dark chocolate dipped cannoli, and lastly a perfect dollop of Sanguinaccio dolce. His attention was pulled away from his work by the sound of someone entering the kitchen making him look over his shoulder to find Charlie slowly making her way in taking in the mess he’d made.

“Wow Vaggie wasn’t kidding you did take over in her-OH ANGEL!!”

The spider flinched a little at the princess’s suddenly high pitched voice but he gave a confidant smirk as she rushed over watching at his side as he drizzled a little raspberry purée around the plate before dipping it into the leftover dark chocolate and offering it to her. She took it eagerly making a happy squeal of approval at the taste. 

“I didn’t know you could bake! The plate looks so amazing!”

The spider demon chuckled scooping up the plate with one hand before walking to the coffee machine and pouring a fresh cup, adding just a little of the leftover espresso and whipped cream.

“There’s a lot ya don’t know about me princess.”

He gave the blonde demon a wink making her playfully roll her eyes as she dropped her spoon into the sink. She went back to his side with a raised brow looking at the plate again.

“It’s a lot of mess for three things though, did you mess up that much?”

Angel put on his best fake offended look.

“I, as a true Italian cook, take offense to that! Now I don’t know if I wanna share the rest o’ this stuff!”

Charlie’s eyes widened comically making Angel laugh and pat her head with a free hand while gesturing to the covered dishes on the clean counter.

“Help yourself Princess, share with the others if ya want just save me some o’ the tiramisu.”

Charlie broke into a beaming smile as Angel left the kitchen humming to himself as he glanced at the clock. It was growing slightly late and he hadn’t seen or heard the radio demon all afternoon which meant one thing, a working spree that would last into the night. It was perfect.

Finding the door to Alastor’s office was easy enough if one knew where to look for the red door, it would switch locations once in a while but more often than not it could be found on the third floor at the very end of the hallway. Angel smirked seeing the door at the end of the hall. He quickly checked over his outfit, patting away a spot of powdered sugar from his pink sweater, before making his way to the door hesitating for only a moment before knocking sharply three times.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

Alastor had his head lost in thought, having long ago finished the easy enough paperwork for the hotel, going over the shifts in his plan. Two months had been much longer than he was intisapting helping the princess and things were complicated by the fact that simply charming her into a deal was struck down by Vaggie nearly the moment he’d walked through the door. Things had indeed changed from his original plan. His thoughts were interrupted by three sharp but slightly unsure knocks on his door. Raising a brow the radio demon glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner, it wasn’t late enough for Charlie to be checking in before bed but dinner had been hours ago, despite that he had politely declined the offer to join the other inhabitants of the hotel. Letting out a curious hum the radio demon snapped his fingers and the door unlocked, slowly falling open as he began to appear busy with the papers once more.

He’d been expecting Charlie’s bubbly voice but that was a far cry from the sound that reached his ears.

“I figured since ya didn’t come ta dinner ya might be a bit hungry an’ I know how your late nights can go so I made ya some coffee with an extra kick.”

The radio demon’s head snapped up hearing Angel’s voice from the door, that definitely was not who he’d expected. He quickly gathered himself glancing at the plate as the spider approached his desk and set the dish and cup down. He supposed the coffee was salvageable if he scooped out the cream but the rest of the plate? Nothing peaked his interest.

“While the gesture is appreciated, I don’t care for sweets.”

He didn’t even spare the spider a glance, simply turned back to the papers in his hand so he missed the way Angel rolled his eyes and nudged the plate closer.

“They ain’t sweet, if you’d try them you’d know that.”

Alastor gave a heavy sigh looking up to meet the spider’s eyes for a moment before looking back to the desserts on the plate. He had to admit all three dishes looked inviting enough, he could smell the espresso coming from the cake square, a glance at the cannoli told him it was covered by dark chocolate and judging by the color fairly high level dark chocolate, but the last item caught his attention the most. It looked like a rich, dark pudding but there was a familiar alluring scent to it he couldn’t quite place. Shaking his head he moved the plate away half an inch out of his work space turning back to the papers.

“Perhaps later my dear, right now I am very busy and I would like to get back to work if I may be so forward.”

He could see the way the spider demon deflated slightly out of the corner of his eye but nonetheless Angel nodded and headed for the door.

“Angel?”

Angel paused in the doorway glancing back at the radio demon, who looking over the top of the papers now.

“Thank you, truely, for the thoughtful gesture.”

The smile that crossed the spider’s face made Alastor’s heart skip a few beats but he did his best to not let it show as Angel said something with a wave before leaving his office softly closing the door behind himself. It took him a few moments to unfreeze before shaking his head, no time to get tangled up by red threads yet, there were still plans. He returned to his thoughts but the concentration only lasted minutes before the smell of the treats became distracting. Leering at the items he considered simply throwing them away but as he examined them he concluded that would be a waste, and the dark dollop was putting off an alluring aroma he couldn’t ignore.

Glancing at the door as though the spider demon might be lurking about the radio demon hesitantly took the small spoon beside the plate and dipped it into the pudding like dessert. After scooping up a small amount he tried a small taste. As soon as the confection touched his tongue Alastor couldn’t help but be amazed. It was smooth as silk, it tasted sweet but not overly so, there were bitter cocoa tones to it and under it all the familiar irony tang of blood. It was perfect. Alastor would never dare admit it out loud but he was extremely tempted to lick the spot on the plate clean, he resisted but the thought was entertaining.

He looked at the other two desserts a little more weary, Angel had said they weren’t sweet and he could smell and see the elements that would curb the normally sweet confections. He gave a small sigh before trying the other two. He was pleasantly surprised to discover they were sweet but not overpoweringly so, just enough to balance out any bitter flavors from being overpowering.

Once the confections were gone the radio demon had much less hesitation mixing the cream into his coffee sipping the drink as he examined his wrist. He wasn’t blind, far from it, he knew months ago that his and Angel’s wrists were linked by the same red thread. Back when curiosity had led him to follow the red string to the heart of the Lust Circuit Alastor thought it was peculiar enough his soulmate was employed at the porn studio but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine his soulmate would be the poster child of the whole Lust Circuit and Valentino’s favorite little pet.

The radio demon set down his cup and examined the thread taking in its faint glow in his dim office. Under any normal circumstance he would approach Valentino with an offer the moth couldn’t refuse in exchange for the contract but with Angel being such a precious gem to the other overlord Alastor highly doubted there was any offer in Heaven or Hell that would make him release Angel. It wasn’t as though Alastor had much interest in pursuing whatever relationship the fates seemed to say existed between him and the spider but it could be an entertaining option if he were going to be stuck with his plans for power going slower than intended.

**♥ ♥ ♥**

Angel snorted a laugh around a spoonful of tiramisu as he watched Charlie and Niffty both dramatically gag and back away from the large bowl of dark pudding he’d just finished explaining the contents of while Vaggie sneered crossing her arms examining the bowl.

“You seriously made _Budín de sangre dulce_? Where did you even get the blood?”

As she spoke the female moth demon glanced around the floor giving a small relieved sigh seeing Fat Nuggets sitting at Angel’s feet looking up at his master with pleading but patient eyes for a treat.

“Do ya really want me ta answer that babe or are ya bein’ rhetorical?”

Vaggie took another glance at the bowl before shaking her head sitting down at the counter and taking a slice of the tiramisu. Angel smirked leaning down and giving the piglet at his feet a small bite of the cake before looking at Charlie and Niffty.

“It ain’t nothin’ ta be grossed out over, pretty common dessert in my family for special events and such.”

Niffty gave him a slight glare as she climbed onto the counter and took one of the cannolis.

“It’s made with blood is the point Angel! It’s gross and honestly sounds like something Alastor would come up with! There is no way it’s a human dish!”

The spider demon rolled his eyes, setting his spoon down.

“Ya can’t even taste the blood in it! Yeesh you girls are so squamish. There's enough cocoa in it ta mask whatever taste of blood there could be unless yer super fucking sensative ta the taste.”

Charlie furrowed her brow pouting as she handed out cups of coffee before sitting next to Vaggie.

“I am not squeamish! It’s just not an appealing idea to eat blood. But really Angel where did you get the blood?”

The spider demon took a sip of his coffee grimincing before adding a healthy dollop of cream to it, not bothering to look at Charlie as he stirred the sweet into the drink.

“Relax babe I didn’t kill any poor bastard if that’s what yer thinkin’, there are some places here that sell more obscure grocery items.”

He glanced down at Fat Nuggets before scooping the piglet up and covering his ears earning a confused snort from the piglet but no resistance.

“If ya really have ta know it’s pig blood from a butcher shop not some rando I found and stabbed.”

Once Charlie visibly relaxed Angel uncovered his pet’s ears and gave the little pig the rest of his dessert. The kitchen fell into an easy quiet as Angel’s thoughts wandered off to the radio demon, had he even tried the confections he’d left on the desk? Had he enjoyed the Sanguinaccio dolce like he’d hoped? Or did he just dump them all in the trash as soon as Angel left? The spider was pulled from his thoughts by the kitchen door opening to reveal Alastor sporting his normal grin carrying his empty dishes. Angel tried not to let his raised hopes show as the radio demon set his plate in the sink before facing the group, his eyes finding Angel first.

“The confections were excellent Angel, the pudding expecilly.”

Angel couldn’t help his smirk, or the small internal shout of joy, as Niffty huffed around a bite of her cannoli giving Vaggie an ‘I told you so’ look while Charlie shuddered giving a tiny ‘blech’ into the rim of her coffee mug. He leaned an arm on the counter nudging the bowl closer to the other demon.

“There’s plenty more Smiles, the girls ain’t so fond of it an’ I can’t eat all of it on my lonesome.”

For half a second Angel could have sworn he seen the radio demon’s smile soften a fraction but before he could try to think more on it Alastor shook his head.

“Not tonight I’m afraid, excellent as it was I have reached my limit of sweets.”

Angel tried not to be disappointed as he shrugged and stood carefully placing plastic wrap over the confection and carrying it to the fridge. As he was moving things around to make room Angel heard Charlie invite the radio demon to join their little gathering, he tried not to get his hopes up as Alastor took a moment to respond.

“While it sounds like a grand pass time getting to chat with you all I have papers that need my attention I’m afraid. I simply wanted to return the dish and give my compliments to Angel.”

The spider demon smiled to himself as he finally nestled the bowl into the fridge before his smile turned cocky as he turned to face the others. He gave a wink crossing his primary set of arms under his chest just right to push up his chest fluff invitingly.

“I don’t normally take requests but if there’s anythin’ ya want special Smiles just let me know.”

Vaggie rolled her eyes, Charlie shook her head, Niffty tried to hide a small giggle behind a bite of her cannoli, and Alastor merely stared at Angel for a moment before something happened that made all of them stare dumbfounded. Alastor’s smile became softer, less menacing and more playful, as his eyes softened with it.

“In all my centuries in Hell I have yet to find a location capable of making a decent beignet, if you feel up to the task some time I wouldn’t turn away the chance to see how you fare.”

Angel couldn’t find his words for a moment before he cleared his throat making a show of looking at his nails.

“I’ll see what I can do for ya Smiles, can't say I’ve ever tried makin’ ‘em before but it could be nice to extend my recipe book.”

Alastor gave a slight static tinged chuckle adjusting his monical until the static faded.

“I must warn you my standards are quite high for that particular pastry my dear, it won’t be easy to meet them.”

Angel tried not to let it show how the playful challenge made his heart skip a beat as he met the radio demon’s eyes giving a sly smirk.

“Oh I have complete faith I’ll be able to do it, ya liked the blood puddin’ after all an’ that ain’t no cake walk.”

Alastor raised a brow at the spider.

“You have a great deal of faith in your abilities Angel, it will be interesting to see you fail or succeed.”

Before the spider could try to retort back Alastor snapped his fingers and in a movement of shadows was gone from the room leaving Angel and the girls once again. Angel blinked a few times before huffing a pout as he sat down at the counter once more. Charlie gave him a bright smile.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to make good beignets Angel, even if they aren’t up to Alastor’s supposed standards.”

Angel gave her a half hearted smile before it fell and his brows furrowed as he took a cannoli from the plate on the counter.

“There’s just one small problem.”

Charlie furrowed her brows.

“What’s that?”

The spider took a bite of his sweet, flinching a bit at the overly bitter tang of the extra dark chocolate, before looking at the three girls.

“What in the name of Lucifer is a beignet?”


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m not dead and neither is this story!! *holds out heaping plate of beignets* Angel made treats! Anyway this chapter took waaaay longer than anticipated and I apologize for that but good news is that it’s finished (I’m not 100% happy with it but that’s okay I still like it) and I have a decent start on the next couple parts! So thank you all for being so patient and I really hope you enjoy! *hat tips*
> 
> (SIDE NOTE!! I only speak English and like three sentences of Spanish so all the French and Italian used is from Google Translate! Please don’t come after me if things are used wrong or mean different things.)

Four eyes suddenly fell on Angel, wide and unbelieving making the spider raise a brow and cross his lower set of arms.

“What?”

Vaggie pinched the bridge of her nose.

“How do you not know what they are?”

Angel shrugged leaning back on his chair.

“I grew up in New York and died in the late 40’s, never left New York.”

Charlie took Vaggie’s hand earning a faint smile before their eyes turned to Niffty as the small demon jumped from the counter and quickly scurried about the cupboards then climbed back onto the counter flipping dangerously fast through a cookbook.

“Beignets are squares of choux pastry fried and dusted with powdered sugar! They have been fairly popular in the southern states of America, mostly New Oreleans, since the 18th century. They can be served as a breakfast item or as dessert!”

She handed Angel the book which was now open to a recipe for the pastries she was describing.

“Alastor has mentioned them before but he constantly says even he can’t make them the way his mother did, but you didn’t hear that from me!”

She looked around carefully before giggling.

“You thought he liked the gross blood pudding? If you can pin this recipe down I can imagine he’d not only be impressed but maybe even a little more interested.”

Angel looked from the recipe to the small demon standing on the counter.

“Is that so? Doesn’t seem like a hard one ta me, basic donut steps.”

Charlie and Vaggie shared a look before the demon princess got to her feet heading to the door, Vaggie following behind her.

“It’s getting late, don’t stay up too late experimenting you two!”

Vaggie pointed a warning finger in Angel’s direction, not that the spider noticed, he was too busy reading the recipe over Niffty’s head as the small demon wiggled her way between him and the book to also see the process.

“And clean up whatever mess you make understand?”

Angel waved a hand dismissively at her.

“Yeah yeah whatever ya say toots.”

The moth demon rolled her eye with a growl but it was only half hearted as Charlie took her hand and led her from the kitchen. Once they were gone Angel looked down at Niffty.

“Feel like givin’ me a hand short stack?”

The small demon zipped from her spot to stand in front of him with crossed arms, her eye slightly narrowed.

“I’ll help but no calling me short! I’m not this small by choice! Not everyone is eight feet tall!”

Angel chuckled with a playful eye roll as he stood from the counter.

“Alright alright no more short jokes Dollface. Now that that’s outta the way let’s give these square donuts a try hmm?”

As it turned out, beignets were a lot trickier than Angel had thought, the first batch he’d mixed the dough too much and the end result came out tough. The second batch hadn’t fared much better considering they were flat as a plate. The spider demon leered at the dough sitting on the counter, Niffty had fallen asleep after cleaning up the last failed batch and Angel was getting tired at this point.

“ _ **Stop treating it like a donut.”**_

Angel jumped at the echoing voice beside his ear but as he looked over his shoulder he found nothing but his own shadow. The spider furrowed his brows slowly turning back around and rubbing his eye with one hand as a yawn crept up on him.

“Now I’m hearin’ things! I think that’s a damn good sign ta go to bed.”

Angel was about to clean up the mess still on the counter but as he touched the dough something his mother told him during one of their secret baking nights crossed his mind.

“ _Don’t knead it too much Andy, if you do it’ll get tough and always make sure to let the oil sit and heat back up after frying or they’ll be flat._ ”

The spider gave a low hum giving the dough a couple more kneads before rolling it out, no sense in throwing away one last attempt. Once he had the squares cut out Angel made sure the oil was at the perfect temperature before dropping one of the squares in. He was really hoping this batch would turn out because he’d changed the recipe just slightly for the heck of it.

**♥♥♥**

Alastor was sitting in the library reading through one of the many books from the shelves, Les Misérables in its original French print, enjoying the evening quiet when his shadow entered the room making small trilling sounds. The radio demon raised a brow about to demand an explanation but the words turned to ash on his tongue as footsteps reached his ears making them twitch. Heels on the carpet covered wood floors. A few seconds later a series of soft knocks sounded on the door.

“Smiles? Ya in there?”

Alastor relaxed a fraction nodding to his shadow once fighting the urge to roll his eyes as it eagerly opened the door to reveal Angel in the hallway holding a covered plate in his hands with a tired but proud smile on his face and either flour or powdered sugar smeared upon his cheek. It was quite the sight and it took more effort than the radio demon wanted to admit just to keep his smile from softening and to restrain himself from crossing the room and wiping away the powder, instead he looked at the large clock in the corner with a curious brow before looking back at the spider as he slowly entered the room.

“It’s rather late Angel, why are you still awake?”

The spider’s smile became more prideful as he set the plate down lightly on the end table beside Alastor’s chair.

“I had ta finish these an’ I figured if they’re anythin’ like the pastries my ma would make they are best still warm.”

Alastor raised a questioning brow as Angel lifted the plate cover. The rich and sweet smell hit his nose at once and it was impossible not to see brief memories of being a child, barely old enough to see over the table, as his own mother lightly dusted a fresh plate of beignets while singing softly.

“Ta-da! I doubt their up to yer standards but I gave it my best shot, took three different tries! The first ones were like rocks an’ the second ones were flat as a plate!”

Alastor shook himself from the memories giving a slightly static tinged chuckle.

“Ahh yes, simple as they are, beignets can be tricky to someone who has never made them before.”

The radio demon paused carefully picking up one of the dusted pastries being mindful of the small ribbon of honey under the sugar.

“I must say however it seems you caught on rather quickly.”

Angel seemed to hold himself a little higher at the compliment before crossing his lower arms and placing the upper set on his hips.

“Well are ya gonna try ‘em or just sit there an’ stare all night? I wanna know how I did!”

Alastor chuckled at the childish impatience but nevertheless took a bite of the sweet. Angel, as it turned out, had much more talent for baking than he let on and it took every ounce of control the radio demon possessed not to stuff the whole pastry into his mouth at once. Instead he forced himself to appear thoughtful as he chewed before swallowing. A glance at the spider revealed the anxious gleam in the other demon’s eyes making a teasing smile curl Alastor’s lips.

“They are quiet excellent my dear, you did well for having never made them before.”

Angel visibly relaxed with a bright smile as he swiped one of the treats and bit into it. His mismatched eyes widened and a sinful moan crawled up his throat.

“Holy shit! They are amazing! Huh they taste better than the ones from the recipe.”

Alastor cocked his head a bit at that as he finished his own pastry.

“You altered them?”

Angel nodded, licking honey from his claw.

“Just these ones. Didn't do nothin’ major to ‘em just added some cinnamon to the powdered sugar an’ used vanilla bean instead of flavoring, oh an’ added a little pinch or two of clove an’ nutmeg to the dough!”

There wasn’t enough control in the world that could have stopped Alastor’s smile from softening as he fully relaxed back against the chair with a low chuckle that was void of any sort of radio cover.

“ _Jusqu'à l'ingrédient secret. Petite araignée intelligente._ ”

Angel did his best to hide his fascination at Alastor’s voice absent of the radio tone but it was hard especially when the other demon had a much softer smile on his lips, if it weren’t for the antlers and razor sharp teeth Angel would swear the other demon looked almost human. In an attempt to distract himself from the thoughts the spider tried to focus on the sentences spoken, he could speak Italian naturally and knew a few words in Spanish but French was something he’d never really encountered. But that one word, parts of it were familiar sounding.

“Araignée? What’s that mean?”

Alastor met the spider’s eyes his smile turning a bit smug and playful.

“What do you think it means my dear? I’d like to hear your thoughts before I tell you.”

Angel mulled over his answer for a moment.

“Well the ‘Raignée’ part of it almost sounds like...like my family name which means ‘Spiders’ in Italian so I’m gonna take a blind shot in the dark and say you called me a spider.”

Alastor gave a slow nod.

“Impressive how quickly you solved that Angel. Yes _Araignée_ means spider in French, the phrase I used was _petite araignée_ which in this case means ‘little spider’.”

Angel could only blink for a moment before laughing as he stood straight towering over the seated deer demon with a typical cocky smirk.

“Last I checked Smiles I’m taller than ya, I don’t think ya get the grounds ta call me little.”

Alastor didn’t respond for a moment, despite every instinct screaming for him to show the spider exactly who was in charge, before he shifted his gaze back to the plate of beignets.

“I also said you figured them out right down to her secret ingredient.”

Angel’s smirk slowly morphed into genuine curiosity now.

“Her? You mean your mother?”

Alastor looked surprised for a moment before remembering Niffty had been in the kitchen earlier that evening, she must have said something. Slowly, as if the movement of his head would dislodge many precious memories to be lost, the radio demon nodded. Angel decided pushing to hear more wasn’t the best course of action, so instead he stretched his upper arms over his head and gave a small yawn.

“Well I just wanted ta see how well I did, I’m glad ya liked ‘em Smiles. Feel free ta keep the plate for yerself, I kept a few aside for the girls and Husky. I think I’m gonna call it a night so I can get my beauty sleep.”

Alastor watched as the spider demon made his way to the door, pausing in the doorway to look over his shoulder with a soft, real, smile.

“Good night _piccolo cervo_.”

Angel didn’t see the way the radio demon’s ear twitched at the forgin words as he stepped out of the room with a small wave over his shoulder as he pulled the door quietly shut leaving the deer demon alone once again. Once he was sure the sound of Angel’s heels had faded down the hall Alastor chuckled to himself dragging a hand over his face as his shadow slipped under the door.

“ _Je suis foutu_.”


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my darling demons! Sooo since I more or less have the next chapter already written (I’m adding finishing details and fine points of story) it might be a good time to tell you....I had no clue where this story was going when I started! But now with some help from a friend I have combined this story with like three different short story ideas I had and they are fitter together (mostly) perfectly! So that being said enjoy the fluff while ya got it cause some drama is about to begin soon! One last thing before I go! Abby is 100% my character, no she is not fully thought out and yes she is kinda lame in the fact I basically made her a different colored Angel but more feminine looks wise it she was my first ever made OC for HH long before I even started this story so I wanted to use her! And lastly I already know I can’t write Val well, I do my best but since he’s a character I don’t bother with much in my works I am not good at writing him so sorry about that.
> 
> Now that all of that is out of the way! *hat tip* enjoy my darling demons!

Angel groaned as the sound of his phone going off drug him from the depths of sleep. Glancing at the clock the spider growled seeing it was nearly 2am before grabbing the device with a little more force than necessary, Val had better had a damn good reason for calling so early on his day off. Taking half a second to make sure any anger wasn’t in his voice Angel answered the call.

“Yes Val?”

He could hear the distant thump of music, Val was still at one of the clubs rather odd for the time of night but he didn’t dwell on it long.

“How much do ya love me Angelcakes?”

Angel fought hard to keep the sneer out of his voice as he leaned back against the many pillows and headboard of his bed.

“Well right now not a whole lot, ya woke me from a good dream but what’s the motivation to forgive ya?”

He heard Val give a low growl in warning but it turned into a forced chuckle.

“A bit bratty without yer beauty sleep baby. I booked you a new gig, high dollar place.”

That got Angel’s attention making him lean forward with a slight smile.

“Yeah? Anywhere I've been before?”

He could hear the music in the background fade out and the sound of a car door closing.

“Yeah, ya did once an’ I remember you loved the attention.”

Angel ran through a mental list of the higher end clubs he’d performed at but none really stuck out.

“Ya feel like tellin’ me or do I gotta guess?”

Val gave another chuckle this one more real and Angel swore he could smell the thick pink cigarette smoke as he heard Val’s lighter spark.

“Devil’s Heaven, name ring a bell Angel baby?”

It took a moment for the name to sink in but as soon as it did the spider jumped out of bed already looking through his closet.

“Yer fuckin’ jokin’!! That’s one o’ the fanciest clubs in Hell! How in the name of Lucifer did ya get me a show?!”

Val exhaled on the other end of the line.

“It wasn’t easy but they had a spot open suddenly, somethin’ ‘bout a girl goin’ missin’ on ‘em. I just slipped your name into a conversation with the scout that happened to be at the Butterfly Lounge.”

Angel was practically bouncing, the last time he’d performed at the club he’d still been fairly new to Val’s studio but he’d won over enough attention to be boosted up to the big leagues the next day he entered the studio. His claws brushed over his outfits already working out what he was going to wear.

“So when’s the show? Gotta have time ta get ready.”

Val hummed for a moment almost distracted.

“Tonight, think ya can get away from that shit hotel for the show?”

Angel stopped searching his closet and swallowed hard, the tone Val had taken on meant he didn’t have a choice, he either showed up or Val would make sure he was at the show. He nodded before clearing his throat.

“Yes Val.”

The smile was prominent in Val’s voice as he spoke and Angel had to check to make sure there was no cigarette smoke creeping through the phone speaker.

“Good. Your set starts at midnight, I’d suggest showing up early.”

Angel nodded, running a hand through his hair suddenly a little less enthused.

“Anything ya say Val.”

There was the sound of a car door opening and closing before Angel heard the familiar music of the studio in the background.

“Good boy.”

With that the line went dead and Angel gave a heavy sigh holding his head in his hand. Too lost in his thoughts the spider didn’t hear the light knock on his door or even hear someone speaking to him until the door opened enough for Alastor to peek in. Angel put on his best cheeky smile at the radio demon tossing his phone on the bed.

“Hey Smiles. Sorry if my conversation woke ya I didn’t mean ta get so loud.”

Alastor’s face held his normal wide grin but there was a small glimmer of questioning in his eyes.

“Not in the slightest, I’m a rather light sleeper so I find it enjoyable to walk the halls and clear my mind. Rather late for Valentino to be calling you away is it not?”

Angel folded his upper arms while the hands of the lower set rested on his hips as he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah but turns out he got me a pretty high class gig, I’m gonna have ta talk ta Charlie and figure out if I’m even gonna be able to leave.”

Alastor was quiet for a moment as he observed the other demon. Angel hadn’t exactly been steller in his efforts of redemption but even Alastor couldn’t deny the spider had been able to give up using drugs and cut back his drinking in the handful of months they’d known one another, so he knew just as well as Angel that Valentino was a serious threat to that progress each time he called the spider away from the hotel.

“I will talk to Charlotte about it.”

Angel blinked dumbly at the radio demon for a long moment before he started laughing.

“Sure ya will! Tell her exactly what I’m doin’ and make sure I can’t go right?”

Alastor simply shook his head and folded his hands behind his back, this made Angel finally notice the other demon was very dressed down from how he normally was. His jacket was absent from his form leaving him in just a red undershirt, suspenders, his black slacks, and to Angel’s surprise his shoes were missing revealing hooves in place of feet. It was extremely cute if Angel was being honest, he hated his own cloven feet but he’d never really imagined Alastor would have actual hooves.

“No that is not what I mean. I mean that with your word that you will not hinder your recent progress of sobriety willingly, I will talk to Charlotte and you’ll be free to go to this show without worry.”

Angel let his laughs trail off as Alastor’s words drew his eyes back to meet the glowing red eyes of the other demon before glancing down as Alastor extended his hand in offering. Angel hesitantly took his second right hand from his hip and began reaching for the offered hand but paused meeting Alastor’s eyes again.

“This ain’t gonna be one of yer freaky voodoo magic deals is it? I’m not promisin’ my soul or some shit cause hate ta break it to ya but Val already has it under contract.”

Alastor gave a low chuckle, one that wasn’t as playful as it seemed, shaking his head.

“The only kind of binding this deal has is a promise, no contracts, no soul possession just your word and mine.”

Angel nodded, relaxing a bit and shaking Alastor’s hand firmly.

“Alright then, I’ll keep clean an’ you keep Princess off my shoulders.”

Alastor’s smile widened returning the firm shake before taking his hand back and turning to leave.

“It’s a promise then, now it is growing exceedingly late if you have a show you must want your beauty sleep as you call it so I will take my leave.”

Angel was nodding along, stifling a yawn, until a flicking motion and spot of red caught his eye. As he looked more fully at Alastor’s back he noticed the small tuft of red fur that was a tail at the base of his spine, he nearly squealed but was able to cover it with another yawn as Alastor’s ear swiveled and the radio demon paused in the doorway to look at him with a raised brow.

“Sorry, just really tired.”

Alastor didn’t seem fully convinced but he didn’t argue as he stepped out of the room.

“Goodnight Angel.”

The spider’s smile softened as he folded his arms.

“Night Smiles.”

With one last nod the door closed separating them and leaving Angel to chuckle a bit. Alastor, one of the more feared demon overlords of Hell, had tiny little hooves and an adorable fluffy tail, it was too cute and Angel couldn’t help but wonder what other deer like features the radio demon was hiding. Looking at his wrist at the red string the spider’s smile softened, they weren’t there yet but he knew Alastor coming to check on him in such a dressed down state, when normally the radio demon stayed fully dressed up any time Angel had come back and glimpsed him roaming the halls, was some kind of start in showing trust.

Angel gave a genuine yawn now as he made his way back to bed and crawled under the covers smiling when Fat Nuggets snorted quietly and snuggled up close. As he waited for sleep Angel thought about how he could show the radio demon a small sign of trust. Showing off his own animalistic attributes wasn’t exactly a way to go, he always had four of his six arms on display, his eyespots only got covered when they ‘creeped out’ a client or co-star, his fangs never retracted, and he hated his feet too much to let anyone, even his soulmate, see them yet. Nope animal attributes were out so he’d have to think of something else.

**♥♥♥**

Alastor walked slowly down the dark hallway once he heard Angel fall back asleep, his mind already planning. As he walked he noticed his shadow wasn’t flowing but was instead stretching along the floor back to the spider demon’s door. Alastor paused looking back at the black void before sighing, with a small wave of his hand the shadow detached itself and slithered under the door. It wasn’t the first time he’d sent or let his shadow keep watch over Angel, in fact many nights since their first meeting he’d used the shadow to keep a close eye on the effeminate spider particularly on nights he’d come home late and often sporting some kind of cut or bruise.

When the radio demon walked through the door of his own borrowed room he glanced at the jacket hanging on a hook by the door. When his shadow had alerted him that Angel was awake, something very out of routine for the spider’s day off, he had decided to forgo getting fully dressed back up. It was always tedious fixing his shoes over his hooves and making sure his tail wasn’t pinned painfully by the long coat, though he had to admit it was worth it seeing the wide look of surprise and curiosity on Angel’s face upon noticing his more animalistic features, mostly because they were features no one got to see under normal circumstances.

As he sat himself on the bed Alastor found himself wondering if Angel himself possessed any animalistic features he didn’t commonly display. He knew about the spider’s third set of arms that were normally tucked away and the extra eyes that looked like more markings to anyone at a glance, but he had to wonder if he was hiding other features since he’d never seen the spider without boots or thick fluffy socks before. He lifted his wrist looking at the red threat coiled around his wrist before lightly trailing his fingers over it, a habit he’d recently picked up after watching Angel do the same absentmindedly. There would be time for small discoveries like that later, particularly if the plan he had unfolding in his mind went smoothly.

**♥♥♥**

Angel woke up a little later in the day then he had planned, well past noon, but after stretching until most of his joints popped the spider quickly dressed for the day. He was in the process of deciding whether to wear his normal boots or try out a pair of new socks he’d bought when a knock on the door drew his attention.

“Shit. Just a sec!”

He quickly grabbed his boots and pulled them on before going to the door and opening it a bit surprised to see Charlie on the other side smiling.

“Afternoon Angel!”

The spider couldn’t help the small smile, what could he say the princess had an infectious grin, as he leaned on the doorframe crossing his primary arms.

“Hey yourself Princess.”

Charlie tucked a stray blonde hair behind her ear doing her best to put on some heir of professionalism, even if it didn’t quite hit the mark.

“Alastor and I had a conversation earlier this morning about the show Valentino has you doing this evening. I agree with Alastor, as long as you keep your word not to ruin the progress you’ve made the last few months you can come and go as you please from the hotel, just let someone know when you’re leaving please.”

Angel was speechless for a moment before his smile widened and he placed a hand on the smaller demon’s head.

“You got it Princess, this ain’t the kinda place ta have anythin’ that’d interest me anyway, too fancy a joint.”

Charlie couldn’t help her small giggle as Angel messed up her hair before she met his eyes.

“You’ve really proven yourself lately Angel, helping out around the hotel, giving up drugs, and even making actual effort to find other activities to engage in. I’m so proud of you!”

The spider demon hardly had time to react before the demon princess hugged him. He gave a small chuckle giving her a slight squeeze in return before carefully pulling her off.

“Alright babe watch the fur I just powdered an’ I don’t think Vags would like ya goin’ around smellin’ like cherries.”

Charlie raised a brow in slight confusion before sniffing at the little bit of powder on her jacket, sure enough it smelt almost like cherry candy with just the tiniest bitter hint at the end.

“That’s a new scent, you’ve been using cotton candy latey.”

Angel shrugged looking down and smiling as Fat Nuggets wandered out of the room and after circling around Charlie made his way to the stairs, oinking impatiently back to Angel earning a chuckle from the spider as he pulled his door shut.

“Alright Nugs I hear ya. Sorry Princess but I gotta cut this short before he makes a mess.”

Charlie nodded as Angel went to the piglet scooping him up and starting down the stairs.

“Oh! Angel don’t forget you have a therapy session this afternoon! We’re trying it outside this time!”

The spider only nodded and gave her a small wave as he reached the lobby, nodding once to Husk and Niffty, before heading outside with the piglet.

**♥♥♥**

Angel arrived at Devil’s Heaven around 11pm. After showing the large hellhound bouncer at the back entrance the small business card Val had given him he was allowed through the lavish iron and wood doors. As he walked the dimly lit hallway he took in the deep red walls and pristine dark wood floors, he didn’t remember much of this from the first time he’d performed the venue but then again he’d been so nervous he’d puked his guts up in the dressing room. As he walked by one of the many black wood doors labeled with golden numbers he didn’t notice it open or that he was being followed until he suddenly felt arms wrap tightly around his torso. His first instinct was to grab whatever idiotic soul had dared to grab him and either throw them or kick them as hard as he could but as he grabbed the appendages holding him he paused feeling soft fluffy fur not unlike his own.

He looked over his shoulder and relaxed at once as a bright smile crossed his face seeing the silver furred spider looking up at him from the fluffiness of his sweater dress.

“Holy shit Abby! Ya nearly got sent across the room grabbin’ me like that.”

The silver spider only looked up at him with bright violet eyes but he could tell she was smiling at him. He quickly shifted in her hold enough to turn around and pull her into a tight hug laughing as she giggled nuzzling his chest fluff, her lavender markings shimmering in the low light. Abby was one of Angel’s closest friends from the studio; she, much like him and many of the other employees, was under a contract with Val but when the moth demon had first introduced them Angel knew at once that Abby’s contract was something much deeper than his own, she was Val’s pet, the result of striking a deal with Val as a human.

After he’d learned from Velvet that Val had intended for one of the two spider’s to try and chase the other off as a test of loyalty Angel made it his goal to keep Abby close and out of Val’s path when the moth demon was angry. They’d both suffered his wrath many times over, Abby sadly more often, but it brought them closer in the end. At first Angel thought it was odd that another spider demon that shared many of his physical attributes wasn’t part of his family but in the end he began to see Abby as family anyway. She was younger than him in human and demon years so he easily became a big brother figure to her, so easily in fact many demons inside the studio and even Vox began calling them the ‘Prince and Princess of the Lust Circuit’, Val had simply used it as a way to publicize them more just as he used Abby’s selective muteness as a selling point for the female spider.

Angel was snapped from his thoughts by Abby poking his side.

“Are ya listenin’ ta me Angie?”

The male spider demon blinked a couple times and shook his head clear.

“Sorry sweets, got a little side tracked by how amazin’ ya look! Let me see.”

Abby rolled her eyes but stepped out of the hold taking a step back and showing off her outfit. She had her four extra limbs tucked away, she wore a royal purple bralette with black silk trim that attached to a choker around her neck with black ribbons, a matching royal purple and black mini skirt, and a pair of black stiletto boots not unlike his own. As the female spider turned in a slow circle Angel took note of how pampered her fur looked, the heart shaped markings on her chest and the dusting of tiny heart shaped spots across her shoulders were covered with matching lavender shimmer, her silver fur was sleek for the most part but where it needed to be fluffy it looked like she’d paid extra attention to it, but most of all he noticed the slightly off silver makeup on her cheek, arm and shoulder.

“What happened this time?”

Abby turned to face him again rasing a brow as she ran her claws through her hair keeping it out of her eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Angel crossed his upper arms and put his lower hands on his hips leaning down to meet the female spider’s eyes.

“Come on sweets you can’t fool me, ya know as well as I do that shitty makeup can fool the johns and janes but I can spot it a mile away under the glitter.”

Abby went quiet for a long moment looking down at her feet before sighing.

“I mouthed off. A client he set me up with wanted my markings changed colors and I refused telling him I wouldn’t do it.”

Angel sighed, pulling the smaller spider into his arms again rubbing her back.

“An’ he got mad?”

Abby nodded before propping her chin up on his chest looking at him.

“Yeah he smacked me around a bit then I….”

She trailed off seeming to shrink in on herself as she hid her face in his fluff.

“I bit at him.”

Angel blinked in surprise wondering if he’d heard that right. In all the areas Abby was similar to him her fangs were not one of them. He only had top fangs that were a fraction longer than the rest of his sharp teeth but Abby had two pairs of two on top and one set on the bottom each longer than her humanoid teeth, not an uncommon thing for most demons but unlike most Abby’s were venomous. He’d learned from the other spider once they got close that she could bite a demon twice her size, like Val, and they would be paralyzed and in a good deal of pain but if she bit them a second time before the paralysis wore off they would die in minutes. Val was well aware of this fact and always made sure to keep away from Abby’s fangs.

“Y-you did? Did he hurt you worse?”

Abby didn’t answer for a moment as a shudder ran through her body before she looked up at him again.

“He brought Vox in-“

Angel stopped her with a gentle hand on her mouth and a shake of his head, no sense in making her remember something like that especially when he knew exactly what Vox being brought into the occasion meant. Instead he gave her a soft smile and moved his hand to hold her cheek.

“I’ve got my makeup kit with me, how’s ‘bout I help ya hide those marks a bit better an’ give ya a little more shine?”

Slowly Abby’s confusion turned into a smile as she nodded and leaned into his side as he wrapped his upper arm around her shoulders leading her to the dressing room he was assigned.

For the next half hour the pair talked easily as they caught up and helped each other get ready. Abby told Angel about things he’d been missing at the studio and in return Angel told her more about the hotel, about the others that called it home, and he even found himself telling her more about Alastor making her smile and tease him lightly but he could tell she was happy for him. There was a knock on the door that made Abby jump a bit and mess up the eyeliner she was working on.

“Damn it!”

Angel chuckled, taking the liquid pen from her and quickly fixing the mess up before going to the door and pulling it open to reveal a female hellhound that looked rather bored.

“Absinthe your set is starting in five, Angel Dust you’re on after.”

Angel looked at the small table clock on the vanity, there was still a half hour before his set and there was no way Abby’s was that long.

“There’s gotta be somethin’ wrong with that schedule babe, my set ain’t till midnight and there ain’t no way her’s lasts 20 minutes.”

The hellhound looked between the two spiders then at the clipboard in her paws.

“Nope, Absinthe performs at 11:35 then Angel Dust at 11:45, your boss’s orders.”

Abby crossed her arms as she approached her brow furrowed in annoyance.

“May as well throw us onstage together with that kinda scheduling.”

Angel nodded watching as the female hellhound walked off with a head shake muttering something about drama queens.

“Yeah no kidding. Alright kid, it’s been awhile since I saw ya work a stage don’t let me down.”

He gave the female spider a playful wink earning a laugh and playful snap of her teeth before she headed off after the hellhound waving over her shoulder. Angel quickly finished his makeup before hurrying to the backstage just in time for Abby to start dancing. He couldn’t help the proud smile seeing she had adopted some of his moves and even added new flair to them. As he watched, the male spider failed to notice the red string around his wrist begin to slowly tighten as he bounced to the music playing loudly from the speakers.

**♥♥♥**

Alastor had kept his end of the deal with Angel, he’d talked Charlie into letting the spider go out with promises of keeping an eye on him. Understandably Charlie and Vaggie had been unsure but in the end they conceded as long as Alastor was willing to make sure Angel stayed out of trouble. The rest of the day was spent business as usual, going through what few applications had been sent in, budgeting work, overseeing the restoration of the hotel, and helping Niffty clean the corners her short frame couldn’t quite reach alone. Until around 10 when Angel took his leave from the hotel wearing his signature black stilettos, a salmon colored sweater dress that had an off the shoulder cut allowing the top of his chest fluff to be exposed and short enough on his lithe frame that it stopped mid thigh, and a white duffle bag over his shoulder.

Alastor watched from the shadows as the spider gave Charlie and Vaggie a slight wave before exiting the hotel looking at his Hellphone muttering to himself about directions. The radio demon waited until the other two demons left the lobby for the princess’s office before he took his own leave, being sure to send his shadow to trail after Angel as he made his own way to the club.

Devil’s Heaven, it was by far one of the most expensive and exclusive clubs in Hell and one of few Valentino did not own. The clientele of such a high end club were exclusively overlords and demi overlords looking for a good show and on rare occasions some of the more wealthy demons that could afford to buy their way into the club. While Alastor had never taken part in what the club had to offer he knew of its reputation as a common gathering place for the likes of overlords such as Valentino, and if Angel was performing the radio demon was certain the moth demon wouldn’t dare miss the show.

Using his powers to portal himself past the Hellhound security Alastor brushed dust from his jacket as he stepped into the VIP booth suppressing the urge to sneer at the heavy scent of sickly sweet smoke that assaulted his nose as a heavy chuckle filled the air.

“Well well well, look what the hellhound drug in. Never imagined I’d see the likes o’ the Radio Demon in a place like this.”

Alastor, finally satisfied with the state of his jacket, raised his eyes to meet Val's, his smile tight and his eyes careful. He wasn’t afraid of the other overlord, he easily overpowered the moth on his own but where Valentino was Velvet and, worse, Vox were likely to follow, those were odds Alastor wasn’t willing to face tonight if it could be avoided.

“I’m here on business Valentino.”

The moth demon chuckled again before taking a drag from the cigarette in his fingers, blowing a heart shaped ring into the space between them.

“Really now? An’ what kinda business does someone like you have in a joint like this an’ with me of all demons? Come ta try and get on Vox’s good side finally old man?”

Alastor clenched his fist behind his back as static started to build around him. He was starting to contemplate just ending the other overlord and taking Angel’s contract for himself when the music that had been playing in the background changed. His ear swiveled first before he glanced out the wall of windows that looked out over the many rows of deep red velvet chairs, each one filled by some form of demon dressed to the nines. On the stage the lights shifted and he recognized Angel’s form as the spider held his pose until the lights changed again before he began dancing and singing along in a more elegant manner than Alastor would have imagined.

The radio demon heard the other overlord give a low, intrigued hum before shifting on the plush sofa to see better out the windows at what had caught the radio demon’s attention. The sickening smell of the pink fog emitting from the moth demon thickened making Alastor quickly snap back to himself.

“I am not here to start a fight where there is no sense of one, I am here strictly on business.”

Val finally stubbed out his cigarette as Alastor turned back to face him. He leaned back on the sofa gesturing for the deer demon to take a seat across from him now more intrigued than before.

“And what kinda business would that be Alastor?”

The radio demon slowly, carefully, took the open seat across the small coffee table from the moth, his smile still in place and his eyes guarded but challenging.

“The business of contracts.”

**♥♥♥**

As Abby exited the stage panting slightly from her dance she beamed happily at Angel as the male spider pulled her into a hug.

“That was amazin’ Sweets! Who taught ya them moves?”

Abby rolled her eyes playfully nipping at him earning a light jab to the side.

“Stop being so cheeky Angie, now go knock ‘em dead and show ‘em what a real dancer can do.”

Angel chuckled happily, taking the kiss to his cheek she offered in luck before hurrying to his mark on the stage. Taking a deep breath as he leaned on the pole, making sure each of his arms were in place and secure, he closed his eyes slowly counting down until the music started. It was like muscle memory falling easily into the routine, he was hitting every beat, keeping every note in tune with the song as he pulled himself onto the pole, until he felt it.

Angel was used to seeing his red string loop and twirling with him as he danced but tonight, tonight it was pulled so tight it was nearly pulling him off the pole and tripping him up. As he dismounted the pole, completely abandoning the routine he’d practiced to walk the stage, his eyes scanned over every single chair he could see. He recognized a few faces, like Vox and Velvet hanging out near the back, but none of the gathered demons was Alastor. As he dropped to his knees on the stage his eyes moved along the cord and his breath nearly stopped seeing it led right into the VIP booth where Val watched his employees perform. Not only was Alastor in a high roller strip club but he was in a VIP booth with Valentino, that only ever meant one thing and Angel doubted the radio demon was interested in any favors Val could provide.

Once his dance was over Angel quickly hurried off stage, right past Abby who furrowed her brows at him before grabbing his arm as he tried to dash for the dressing room.

“Woah hey Angel! What’s wrong? You look like yer gonna be sick or somethin’.”

Angel paused in walking to take a few deep breaths and offer a small smile at the female spider.

“It’s nothin’, just...Val’s here ya know how he gets when I’m late to his booth.”

Abby’s frown deepened but slowly she let go of his arm and nodded as two cat like demons walked by them headed for the stage. Angel lifted a hand to hold her cheek leaning down to kiss her forehead.

“Hey don’t be like that, I’ll be back before ya know it Abby, gotta keep Val happy; an’ don’t worry ‘bout Vox tonight, saw Velvet was with him and you know as well as I do she can talk all night.”

Abby leaned into his hand offering a small smile and nod before letting him head to the dressing room while she made her way to the private bar. As soon as he was in the dressing room Angel hurriedly touched up his makeup and after making sure his outfit was perfect once more he made his way to the VIP booth, his heart hammering against his ribs and his mind going a mile a minute tripping over all sorts of scenarios of why Alastor was here.

As he reached the door he paused listening closely, he couldn’t hear much over the music but in the little window he could see the two overlords sitting across from one another, an envelope between them. As he watched Alastor picked up the envelope and tucked it into his jacket, his smile was a little less genuine and more forced as he did so. Angel took a deep breath and carefully opened the door.

“Three days Alastor. Angelcakes! Right on time, good ta know that hotel hasn’t made ya forget how things go after a show like this.”

Angel plastered a smile on his face acting like he didn’t notice the paper on the table, that was signed with an elegant signature in blood red ink, quickly roll itself up and vanish in a puff of pink smoke as he approached the moth demon. Val kept his eyes on Alastor as he pulled Angel by the waist to sit across his lap, another hand coming up to hold his face before he could respond.

“I’ve got some news for ya Angelcakes.”

The spider furrowed his brow meeting Val’s eyes, he could practically feel the static rolling off Alastor but did his best to ignore it.

“News? Did I do somethin’ wrong Val?”

The moth overlord shook his head dragging a claw down the spider’s cheek and neck.

“Not in the slightest baby, jus’ business. Now fer the next few days you belong ta someone else.”

Angel felt his stomach drop through the floor, Val had traded away his contract, had Alastor talked him into it?! Had Alastor said something to Val and now Angel’s contract belonged to some other overlord or worse Vox?

“I-I don’t understand.”

Val gave a low chuckle gesturing to Alastor with a hand.

“For the next few days you belong to Alastor here baby, he has your contract on a trial run ta see if he likes the merchandise before payin’ ta keep it. If he treats ya good an’ ya end up truly happy I might consider handin’ it over for good.”


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello darling demons!! No I’m not dead and neither is this story I promise! While I had 90% of this chapter written out I got busy with life and lost inspiration and motivation to finish it but now I finally have! And with most of the plot mostly hammered out in my head hopefully I can get back to some semblance of regular updates! I’m not gonna say what happens but let’s just say enjoy the upcoming fluff before the storm! As always my darling demons don’t forget to leave kudos and comments to help feed the little plot bunnies this holiday season! Whatever holiday you happen to celebrate this time of year I hope it is happy and bright! Happy holidays *hat tip* and enjoy the show!

_“For the next few days you belong to Alastor here baby._

Angel’s brain stopped processing what he was being told as his eyes widened in disbelief, Alastor was temporarily holding his contract? For three days Angel belonged to the radio demon? There was a catch, there had to be some nasty, painful catch. Realizing Val was waiting for a reaction Angel gave a slight smirk as he got to his feet and made his way over to the radio demon sliding into his lap, with a quickly mouthed apology feeling the other demon tense.

“Three days with the radio demon to give all his attention ta little ol’ me? This’ll be fun, findin’ out what ya like handsome.”

As he spoke Angel ran a careful claw down Alastor’s neck and chest with a sly smirk. He wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he was expecting from the deer demon, maybe a slight blush or to be flat out pushed onto the floor, but he sure as shit wasn’t expecting Alastor’s smile to turn into a devilish smirk as the radio demon coiled one arm around his slim waist while the other hand firmly held his chin so their eyes met.

“All in due time my dear, you’ll have your fun, but I’ll have mine first.”

Angel felt his cheeks warm as his heart skipped far too many beats and his mouth became dry. Alastor chuckled a static filled sound before helping Angel stand and getting to his own feet bowing slightly to Valentino.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you Valentino. Now if you’ll be so kind as to excuse us, I believe we have some business of our own to attend to.”

The moth demon gave a warped smile as he leaned back on the sofa lighting a new cigarette.

“Have fun with ‘im Angel baby, make sure ta treat him like ya would me.”

Angel, mind still a little numb, nodded as he took Alastor’s offered arm as the pair took their leave. As soon as the door to the booth was closed and the music of the club hit the spider he shook his head before looking at the radio demon in complete disbelief.

“What the fuck was that Smiles?! Ya been holdin’ out on me with moves like that!”

Alastor simply rolled his eyes leading them away from the booth.

“I’ve been hiding nothing, all an elaborate act to make him believe fake intentions.”

Angel deflated a bit letting the other demon lead him around the room of lavish chairs, making note of how Vox noticed them and abandoned his seat beside Velvet to make his way to the VIP booth. As they neared an exit to the club Angel suddenly stopped walking making Alastor pause and look back at the spider.

“Is something the matter?”

Angel nodded looking around.

“Yeah I can’t leave, not yet I gotta meet someone.”

The radio demon narrowed his eyes at the spider, though it did little good as the taller demon’s eyes looked around the space before falling on a figure seated at the bar. Before Alastor could even think to ask questions the spider was already striding away. Curious he followed watching as the female spider at the bar perked you seeing Angel and quickly jumped up to hug him. Angel laughed a little hugging her back before giving her a short explanation of what was happening.

“Ya should come with us Abby! Come ta the hotel!”

The silver spider, Abby, looked from Angel to Alastor her brow furrowing a little as she shook her head. Angel glanced at Alastor before gently cupping the female spider’s cheek whispering a form of reassurance before Abby gave a heavy sigh lifting her head to show her neck. The radio demon was confused by the action at first until as they watched a small cloud of pink smoke coiled itself tightly around Abby’s throat before making itself take on an iron collar shape and seeming to turn more solid.

“I wish I could Angie but now that you’re goin’ he’s gonna make me pick up the slack, there’s no way in the nine circles he’s gonna let me go with ya.”

Alastor glanced at Angel who was looking somewhere between angry and sad before he sighed heavily pulling the other spider into a tight hug kissing her head.

“Be careful _sorella_ , call me if anythin’ happens an’ I’ll be at the studio before he can even think ta call Vox okay?”

Abby wrapped her arms tightly around the male spider, balling her hands in what little of the outfit he had on.

“Ya can’t always save me Angie.”

Angel shook his head.

“I mean it Absinthe, if he so much as raises a hand to ya I want ya to call me an’ I’ll be there ta break his wrist, or even call Niss ya know he’d be there in a second! Yer family an’ what have I told ya about our family?”

Abby finally gave a small smile as she looked up at Angel.

“ _La famiglia protegge la famiglia, non importa cosa._ ”

Alastor felt his ear twitch at the sentence spoken in Italian, Italian that was nowhere near as fluent as Angel’s, that was clearly just a mesmerized line but he still wondered what exactly it meant as Angel nodded with a soft smile carefully stepping out of the hug but still holding Abby’s hands in his own.

“ _Non importa cosa,_ even if it’s from some shitty moth overlord. Love ya sis.”

Abby’s smile softened and she straightened herself, squeezing Angel’s hand before taking her own back glancing at Alastor.

“Love ya more Angie. Now go on ya got three days with Mr. Handsome back there, don’t let me keep ya from it.”

She gave a playful wink that Alastor tried to act discouraged by as he cleared his throat before Angel chuckled, placing one final kiss to Abby’s cheek before returning to the radio demon’s side.

“I’ll be sure to give ya all the details later babe!”

Abby only laughed, waving at him as she went back to the bar. Angel slipped his arm back through Alastor’s with a mostly contented smile, though the radio demon could still see the worry in his eyes.

“She’ll be alright, let’s go home Smiles.”

Alastor glanced back at Abby for a moment before leading the male spider from the club, being sure one of his shadows stayed behind to keep an eye on Abby. If she was important to the spider then she would fall under his protection as well.

“Yes, let’s go home.”

**♥♥♥**

_”Three days.”_

The words echoed loudly in Alastor’s head for most of the night. He and Angel had arrived back at the hotel to Charlie mildly surprised but happy to see them as she set up the tv in the lobby for what appeared to be movie night. Alastor was about to decline the invitation to join but he was powerless when Niffty, Charlie, and Angel gave him pleading looks, he may have been a murderer but he had a heart and a crippling soft spot for the deadly puppy eyes of the three demons before him. So the radio demon found himself seated on the couch, Angel on his right side, Niffty at his left, all covered with a rather cozy blanket while some animated film played on the screen.

He wasn’t paying attention to the film in the slightest, far too lost in his own thoughts.

_”I’ll give ya his contract for three days Alastor. In those three days if ya can prove ya really give an actual shit about him and aren’t just bein’ the princess’s little bitch an’ fetching him by oh I don’t know...kissin’ him, a real kiss not some cheap meaningless shit, then I let him go. No strings, no tricks, the contract breaks.”_

Alastor remembered watching the terms laid out by the moth overlord write themselves in glowing pink script upon the open piece of paper between them, he could still faintly smell the sickly sweet smoke in the air.

_”But if you fail ta meet the conditions in that time then he is mine. He leaves that stupid hotel an’ any idea of this redemption bullshit behind. Things go back ta how they were….well almost.”_

The way the moth had smiled, like he’d already won the game, made even Alastor’s skin crawl as the air in the booth had thickened and became cold as their demon energies began to swirl at the building of a contract.

_”If ya fail Angel is mine an’ so are your territories. The radio tower, the southern corner, an’ most of all that joke of a hotel.”_

Thinking on it now Alastor struggled to repress a growl that echoed in his thoughts paired with hissing static.

_”Not the hotel, as an overlord I have to own at least one territory. You can have the radio tower but leave the hotel to me.”_

Valentino had sneered at the request, his eyes taking on a bright pink glow as his demonic energy flared.

_”Give me one reason I should let ya keep it.”_

Alastor knew it was a long shot but it hadn’t been a lie, just a stretched truth.

_”Lucifer. Think for a moment Valentino, the princess of Hell runs the hotel. As much as I’m sure the king would like nothing more than for his daughter to give up her foolish endeavors and return home if the overlord of the Lust Circuit were to suddenly take over the territory she is residing in he might become concerned, he may even decide to step in if he feels his only daughter is in danger.”_

The way Valentino had flinched back and shrunken in on himself was immensely satisfying even in memory and it was hard for Alastor to keep the chuckle from rising up his throat, luckily it seemed timed perfectly with a funny part of the movie so no one gave it a second thought. He carefully thought over signing his name on the contract, how his own demonic energy made the red ink glow as it bound itself to the page. The way Valentino’s smirk returned, though guarded now, as he snapped his long fingers and made a simple pink and white envelope appear. Alastor could feel the familiar energy that surrounded Angel coming from the tiny paper parcel, dampened by the heavy pink wax seal keeping it closed. Angel’s soul bound contract.

_”Three days Alastor.”_

The radio demon gave a small sigh as the words once again echoed in his mind, what had he done? There was no way, in Heaven or Hell, he was going to be able to let himself fall in love with Angel in just three days, a second lifetime might not have been enough. Suddenly he was pulled from his thoughts as Angel shifted beside him, glancing over the radio demon noticed the spider had fallen asleep and had curled up on the couch in such a way his head was now resting on Alastor’s shoulder.

A quick glance around the lobby showed that Charlie and Vaggie were already on their way up the stairs, Charlie half asleep leaning on Vaggie heavily, Husk had scooped Niffty from where she’d fallen asleep on the sofa and was following after the girls leaving just Alastor and Angel. Giving a slight sigh Alastor carefully extracted himself from the blanket and spider to stand beside the couch, he contemplated leaving Angel as he was but as he tried to turn and leave found his mind simply wasn’t allowing it.

After a little careful thinking the radio demon gathered the spider into his arms, surprised by exactly how light Angel was but also relieved since it made carrying his lithe frame easier, began heading up the stairs doing his best to ignore how feeling Angel curl closer to him and give a tiny purr like sound in his sleep made his cheeks warm. Once he reached the third floor he let himself into Angel’s room, with a little help from his shadow, and laid the spider on the bed being sure he didn’t wake before leaving for his own room.

“Three days.”

He muttered the words to himself as he closed the door to his room and glanced at the mirror hung on the wall, taking in his reflection’s demonic appearance, an illusion of the contract he’d signed with a glowing red signature mocking him.

**♥♥♥**

Angel wasn’t exactly sure how he’d ended up in his own bed the next morning, he remembered falling asleep on the couch during the movie night Charlie had set up, but as he made his way to the bathroom he pushed it out of his mind figuring he’d probably made his way to bed half awake. The spider went through the process of washing away the glitter and makeup from the night before then putting on something a little simpler for the day before drying and powdering his fur, taking the opportunity to use the new strawberry scented powder he’d picked up. Picking out his outfit he decided on a simple cream sweater, black leggings, and a pair of fluffy pale yellow socks that still hid his feet. No point in getting overly dolled up if he wasn’t going to the studio.

He paused in pulling on his sweater at the thought letting the knowledge of not having to practice a routine for hours then be thrown into a scene washed over him and he couldn’t help the warm feeling it brought over him. Making quick work of finishing getting ready the spider made sure Fat Nuggets was trailing behind him as he left his room. After descending the stairs Angel raised a brow realizing how quiet the lobby was, even for the hotel, a glance at the clock revealed exactly why. It was barely 6am.

“That’s what I get fer fallin’ asleep early.”

Fat Nuggets just snorted in response before his little ears perked and he waddled to the kitchen door, snorting impatiently at Angel as he scraped a tiny hoof on the bottom of the door. The spider chuckled going to the piglet and scooping it up as he walked through the door.

“All right baby let’s get some….”

Angel’s words trailed off as he stepped into the kitchen and found it wasn’t empty, Alastor was standing at the counter carefully plating what appeared to be red pancakes and cut fruit. The radio demon hummed softly to a tune Angel couldn’t hear as he observed the tray before with a gentle wave of his hand a white rose appeared in the empty cup making Alastor give a small nod of approval.

The spider barely contained a chuckle at how domestic the other demon truly looked dressed simply in a white button down, black slacks, his normal shoes, and an apron. Fat Nuggets it seemed wasn’t as inclined to be quiet and watch as the piglet snorted and wiggled in his owner's arms, the sound breaking Alastor from his task. Angel flinched a little, reflexively taking a step back until he realized Alastor didn’t look angry but rather...disappointed? Quickly Angel shook his head a bit and put on a playful smile as he walked over to the counter leaning on it and looking over the tray.

“Impressive spread Smiles, ya must have been workin’ all mornin’ on it.”

The radio demon watched Angel for a moment before his soft smile returned as he picked up a bowl of what looked like thin frosting and carefully drizzled little ribbons across the pancakes.

“Not all morning my dear, just the last hour.”

Angel gave a low whistle swiping a piece of kiwi, smirking as Alastor narrowed his eyes at the spider but didn’t scold him.

“So ya got up extra early just ta make yerself breakfast? I can’t imagine that, I’m only up ‘fore nine cause I fell asleep so early last night.”

Angel was too occupied with observing the plated food and contemplating what he was going to prepare for himself to notice the slight flush that colored Alastor’s cheeks or how the radio demon struggled to find his words for a moment before clearing his throat as he turned away, making a task of taking the frosting bowl to the sink.

“It’s not for me my dear, far too sweet for my kind of breakfast.”

That made Angel look up, his brow furrowed in confusion as he set Fat Nuggets on the floor, the piglet immediately waddling his way to Alastor looking up at him expectantly. The radio demon gave what could only be described as a playful eye roll before grabbing the extra fruit and placing them into a small bowl then setting them on the floor making the piglet snort happily before eating.

“What do ya mean it ain’t yours? What’d ya make it for if ya ain’t gonna eat it?”

Alastor didn’t take his eyes off the dish in his hand as he rinsed it out.

“It was meant for you, after last night I thought you might enjoy a nicer surprise, though I didn’t plan for you waking so early.”

Angel blinked dumbly a few times before his cheeks flushed heavily and his heartbeat sped up.

“Y-ya made me breakfast?”

Alastor nodded, unable to face the spider demon as his heart began to trip over itself. Angel settled himself on a chair at the counter picking up the fork from the tray and hesitantly cut into the red pancakes, he could see the radio demon’s ear twitch no doubt listening for a reaction, then trying a small bite. As soon as he registered the red velvet flavor the spider couldn’t help the small moan that escaped him.

“Red velvet pancakes! I knew ya could cook Smiles but damn these are good!”

Angel wasn’t sure if he was hearing things or not but he could have sworn he heard the radio demon give a small sigh before he turned around drying his hands with a slightly softer form of his normal smile.

“I’m glad you approve, I must admit they were easy enough to make.”

Angel began to happily eat the pancakes before he noticed Alastor set the dish towel aside glancing down at Fat Nuggets as the piglet finished the fruit and snorted winding himself around the radio demon’s legs.

“He seems ta like ya.”

Alastor stole a glance at the spider before looking back at the piglet. Angel wasn’t wrong, over the last few days he and the little creature had formed a sort of mutual understanding. Each morning when Alastor would wake before the rest of the hotel the demon piglet would notice and sneak out of his owner’s room to follow the radio demon to the kitchen. At first Alastor merely ignored the creature until it left looking defeated but just like Angel the pig was determined. As a child Alastor had a few pets, mostly wild rabbits he’d found injured or the stray cat that hung around their house, so when the piglet would sit at his feet looking at him with wide eyes he found himself powerless against ‘accidentally’ dropping bits of food or patting the creature on the head as they met each other at the top of the stairs.

Realizing he’d drifted into thought and Angel was watching him, clearly trying to hide a smirk, the radio demon cleared his throat walking to the coffee maker and pouring himself a cup.

“It would seem so, I will admit he has become pleasant company in the mornings before Charlotte wakes.”

Angel chuckled but made no further comment leaving the pair to fall into easy quiet, apart from the radio on the counter Alastor turned on allowing soft jazz to play in the background.

**♥♥♥**

As the morning moved on Angel and Alastor were still sitting content with the sound of the radio, the spider scrolling through his phone nursing a cup of coffee with far too much sugar while the radio demon read through a newspaper drinking his own blakc coffee. That’s the sight that greeted first Charlie and Vaggie as they entered the kitchen dressed for the day.

“Good morning Angel! Good morning Alastor!”

The spider looked up from his phone to give the princess a quick smile while Alastor closed his paper.

“Good morning Charlotte, Vagatha.”

The female moth demon grumbled under her breath at the name but didn’t protest any further as Charlie handed her a cup of coffee looking between the two male demons.

“How long have you both been up? Come to think of it Angel you’re not normally awake this early.”

Angel locked his phone and set it aside with a slight shrug.

“I crashed durin’ the movie last night so I woke up early.”

The spider looked over at Alastor who was now in the process of finishing off his coffee.

“Smiles over here was already up when I got up, been up for an hour ‘fore that.”

The radio demon gave a slight shrug as Charlie’s eyes widened knowing already how early Alastor tended to wake up.

“Insomnia is a devil to deal with but nothing I haven’t done before.”

Angel looked a little surprised but quickly stored away the sliver of knowledge while Charlie’s brows furrowed in slight worry.

“Hopefully you don’t have anything big planned then, you shouldn’t wear yourself down.”

The radio demon waved his hand dismissively as he stood.

“Nothing of large consequence my dear, I did however hope we could go over the plans you have for accepting new guests to the hotel?”

Angel watched as the princess’ eyes lit up like they always did when discussing plans for the hotel as she nodded before looking at him, finally taking in his dressed down appearance.

“And you Angel?”

The spider shrugged, finishing his coffee, unable to help the slight smile as Alastor took his empty cup and placed it in the sink along with his own.

“Nothin’ really. Ain’t gotta worry about work for a few days so I’ll have ta find ways ta keep myself busy.”

Vaggie raised a brow as she took a drink of her coffee.

“What do you mean you don’t have to worry about work, you never have so much time off.”

Angel glanced at Alastor, the radio demon still had his back to the group but the spider could only assume it was probably better the girls didn’t know about the temporary ownership of his contract.

“Eh Val put me through a pretty rough session after the show last night so he figured lettin’ me heal was a good idea.”

The female moth didn’t look convinced but before she could question further, Fat Nuggets snorted from by the door turning in a small circle earning a smile from the spider.

“Alright baby, I’m coming.”

As he scooped up the piglet with his lower arms he gave a small salute to the girls and a wave to Alastor before leaving the kitchen leaving Vaggie to shake her head, Charlie a little confused and Alastor to silently release a breath he didn’t know he was holding. It was going to be a very interesting three days.

_**”Three days…”** _


	6. VI

After taking Fat Nuggets for a small walk around he hotel’s overgrown and dead garden and letting the pigglet run around for about an hour Angel made his way back inside. Since he didn’t have to go to the studio and he doubted Alastor was finished with his meeting with Charlie he needed to find something to keep himself busy and he already had an idea.

The spider made his way to the second floor of the hotel and quickly located the library. While he wasn’t one for reading very much Angel did enjoy the cozy and quiet space the library provided when he wanted to hide and relax a bit. He set Fat Nuggets on the floor as he opened the door smiling at his pet.

“There’s gotta be a gardening book in here, maybe we can get that sad excuse of a garden lookin’ pretty for ya Nugs.”

The piglet oinked and turned in a small circle excitedly earning a chuckle from his owner as he stepped into the room. After scanning the many shelves of books Angel finally found a couple books that would be useful, he pulled them from the shelf and carried them to the sofa in the heart of the room sitting down and getting comfortable. Fat Nuggets snorted up at his owner before, with an adorable butt wiggle, jumped onto the sofa and curled up in the spider’s lap earning a soft chuckle before Angel picked up one of the books and started reading, already imagining what the garden could look like with some work.

**♥♥♥**

After finally hammering out a decent idea of what kind of questions should be on an application for the hotel’s redemption program Alastor was eager for a little quiet and so he headed for one of his favorite places in the hotel, the library.

As he walked Alastor took note that he hadn’t seen any sign of Angel in the lobby which was fairly uncommon, the pink spider was almost always sitting at the bar with Husk discussing something or just simply bothering the old cat. As his thoughts drifted to Angel the radio demon realized with a small spike of static that it was probably a good idea to begin coming up with a plan for when he inevitably failed to uphold his end of Valentino’s contract. The radio demon gave a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand to try and stave off a headache while the other waved the door open.

It took a moment before Alastor realized the library wasn’t empty. Sitting on one of the sofa’s sound asleep, with a book open at his side, and Fat Nuggets asleep in his lap was Angel. Curiously the radio demon quietly made his way over, gesturing with one hand to his shadow sending it to fetch a blanket, and carefully took the book from the sleeping spider’s hand. He made sure to keep his thumb between the covers to keep the other demon’s place before examining the cover decorated with many pictures of plants and gold lettering reading ‘The Language of Flowers’.

A slight smile crossed Alastor’s face, he’d never really taken Angel as the type to be one for reading but he never expected the spider to have an interest in gardening. His shadow reappeared producing a soft knitted pink and cream blanket from its inky form before being dismissed as the radio demon took the blanket in his free hand draping it over his arm. After finding a bookmark and placing it between the pages Angel had been reading Alastor set the book on the sofa and carefully draped the blanket over the spider, freezing in place for a moment as Angel stirred enough to shift a bit before settling back into sleep.

Once the blanket was in place Alastor gave a small sigh and went to one of the arm chairs beside the sofa and sat down summoning his own book and settling in as he opened it to the marked page and began reading letting his mind drift and relax. The radio demon wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed but it was enough for him to get halfway through his own book when Angel began to wake groaning as he brought one hand to the back of his neck.

“I’m gonna have a headache now, that’s what I get fer sleepin’ sittin’ up.”

Alastor lifted his eyes to the spider unable to resist the slight smile as Angel stretched his back before noticing him and blushing a bit in surprise.

“S-Smiles, what are ya doin’ here?”

Alastor quickly marked his place in his book before closing it, giving his full attention to the spider.

“The very same as you I can only assume, seeking some quiet away from the others of the hotel.”

Angel nodded a bit, feeling a little stupid for asking but Alastor glanced at the gardening book still on the sofa deciding to quickly change the subject.

“I never expected gardening to be a topic of interest for you Angel.”

The spider was confused for a moment before following the other demon’s eyes to the book beside him. Angel gave a slight chuckle picking up the book.

“It ain't, not really anyway. I was out in the garden with Nugs earlier an’ I got ta thinkin’ that maybe fixin’ it up an’ makin’ it look pretty wouldn’t only be nice for Nugs but help add appeal to the hotel.”

Alastor was quietly surprised by the response he received but slowly a smile crossed his face as he leaned forward his interest intrigued.

“A spelled idea if I do say so, Charlie was just talking about fixing it up herself. What kind of things did you have in mind?”

Angel met the radio demon’s eyes giving a small smile as a blush crossed his cheeks.

“Nothin’ fancy like Charlie could do, just some flowers. My ma had a window sill garden when I was a kid, a box of herbs she always used fer cookin’, a box of flowers in every color ya can think, an’ a box with things like camomile an’ mint in it that she used for tea. Molly an’ I loved ta watch her tend the plants an’ she taught us about them.”

Alastor nodded, memories of his own childhood helping his mother in their large garden and countless summer days spent in the bayou with his mother teaching him about the wild plants that could be consumed or used in medicine.

“Did she grow her favorite flower?”

Angel looked a little surprised by the question, and honestly Alastor was a bit taken aback by it, but eventually a sad smile crossed the spider’s face as he shook his head.

“Nah her favorite couldn’t fit in a window box. When I was a kid, like 3 or 4, pops made us go to Louisiana for business an’ I remember it was summer but the place we were stayin’ had a huge garden with a large tree at its heart covered in pink flowers. Ma thought it was the most beautiful thing an’ she would sit with Molly an’ me under it an’ sing to us. When we went back ta New York she tried ta find a tree like that but turns out it don’t exactly like the weather of New York.”

Alastor felt his ears twitch and his heart falter for a long moment before a wistful smile crossed his own face as he sat back in the chair.

“A magnolia tree, one of the beauties of Louisiana. As a child my mother would take me into the bayou and show me all kinds of flora, taught me how to tell which ones were poisonous and which were useful, but one of her favorite spots was a clearing with a magnolia tree at its heart that had vines of jasmine growing around its trunk.”

Angel soaked in the information with a small smile.

“I wonder if it was the same tree.”

Alastor’s smile fell then, a site that made Angel flinch a bit, before the radio demon shook his head.

“Doubtful, you were 14 when I died Angel and my mother died when I was 17.”

The spider raised a brow in confusion, not at the fact that Alastor apparently knew how much time was between their deaths because things like that were easy enough to figure out but rather in wonder of what that had to do with anything.

“What’s that got ta do with anythin’?”

Alastor shifted his eyes to look at the unlit fireplace, though his eyes weren’t seeing the charred stones.

“I burned the tree to the ground after my mother died.”

The spider’s eyes widened and his brows furrowed in bewilderment.

“Ya did what?! Why would ya do that if it was her favorite place?!”

Alastor kept his eyes on the fireplace, his mind filled with the memory of tears burning his cheeks as he sobbed and screamed watching the large tree with its beautiful flowers burn, the scent of Janine and smoke filling his nose.

“Because I was angry and hurt. In life my mother and I were not exactly accepted by the townspeople because of our….lifestyle so my mother was the closest person to me my whole life. Losing her to Spanish flu was the hardest thing in my life and because I didn’t want anyone else to find the clearing when I went back to New Orleans I got rid of it to preserve the memories of time spent there with my mother.”

As he spoke Alastor slowly removed the glove of his right hand and rolled up the sleeve of his jacket to expose most of his forearm. As Angel looked he noticed among the many teeth mark shaped scars there was another, larger and smoother, scar from a burn.

“I regretted starting the fire and tried to put it out and burnt myself so I convinced myself it was for the best.”

Angel felt his heart grow heavy in his chest and the overwhelming urge to pull the radio demon into a hug was almost too much. He couldn’t blame Alastor for reacting that way especially because his own retaliation when his own mother died was to fall into a life of drugs, booze, sex and drag shows as a huge middle finger to his father. The pair sat in heavy silence for a long moment as Alastor fixed his sleeve and replaced his glove before Angel got an idea offering a small smile to the radio demon.

“Maybe when we get the garden revamp goin’ we can plant a magnolia tree, it would be like a little sign of love and respect ta our mothers.”

Alastor looked at the other demon a bit surprised before warmth filled his chest and a sad but also hopeful smile graced his face.

“I think that is a magnificent idea darling, I’m sure they would love it.”

Angel’s smile widened as he picked up the gardening book and opened it to the marked page.

“We’re gonna have a lotta work ahead of us, the garden is shit right now.”

Alastor glanced out the window at the overgrown piece of land.

“It would seem so.”

Angel could hear the smirk in the radio demon’s voice making him glance up and chuckle as Alastor subtly tilted his head to the window before his shadow zipped across the floor and out the window.

“That’s cheatin’ Al!”

The radio demon raised a brow but as Angel got to his feet, cradling a now awake Nuggets in his lower arms, with a teasing smirk.

“Is that so? Did you have something else in mind?”

The spider nodded offering one of his upper hands, Alastor hesitated for a moment before taking it, allowing the spider to pull him to his feet and to the doors of the library.

“Duh! What fun is makin’ a garden if we don’t get our hands dirty! ‘Sides I used ta love helpin’ ma plant new flowers.”

The radio demon tried to fight down a blush feeling Angel hold his hand as the spider pulled him out of the library and quickly through the lobby out to the garden. Normally the only demon allowed to even remotely try and pull Alastor around was Niffty but only because the radio demon had a very soft spot for the small cyclopes having seen what she’d gone through in her human life, but he couldn’t bring himself to be truly annoyed or angered by Angel’s childish excitement as they reached the garden. Angel quickly let go of his hand and set Fat Nuggets down before kneeling on the cracked cobblestone path to examine the many weeds before him.

Alastor quietly watched as the spider began pulling away the weeds for a long few minutes before looking up at him with what could only be described as an angry pout.

“Come on Smiles! Ya gotta lend a hand too or it’s gonna take years!”

The radio demon raised a brow before chuckling as he removed his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and kneeled beside Angel to begin pulling weeds. Angel’s pout turned into a bright smile as they pulled the weeds from the ground, Alastor’s shadow easily collecting them and vanishing them to who knew what dimension. After some time and light talking Alastor took a small break to summon an old radio onto the rusted iron table behind them. As the radio appeared it took a moment to search through stations before it settled on the sound of bouncing jazz music making Angel playfully roll his eyes but as they kept working Alastor couldn’t help but see how the spider hummed and bounced along to the music, occasionally even singing.

It was around sunset when the two demons decided to call it quits, the garden was mostly riddled of dead and invasive plants but there was still a lot of work to do to make it ready for planting but for now it was good enough. After washing up dinner was a fairly relaxing event, Alastor watched with a content smile as Angel and Vaggie bantered, Charlie made small attempts to keep her girlfriend calm, Husk just rolled his eyes and nursed his booze though Alastor could see the faint contented smile on the old cat’s face, and Niffty occasionally chimed in on the banter. It was loud and chaotic but for some reason Alastor wasn’t sure he knew himself he was content being around the noise.

**♥♥♥**

Valentino sneered as he leaned back in his office chair, his eyes trained on the small glowing orb on his desk that was showing him Angel and Alastor having their little heart to heart talk in the hotel’s library. Taking a cigarette from the desk Val lit it still glaring at the orb, things weren’t going as he planned and the moth knew he was toying with fire.

As the overlord of lust Valentino had a power most other demon’s didn’t, even if it was mostly useless. In the many decades of his reign he’d only ever seen the bright red thread connect two demons a small handful of times and so the day he seen it on Angel’s wrist he knew taking the spider under contract was only a temporary hold. For nearly a century Val found himself unconcerned with the fact his best star had a soul thread but the day Angel disappeared for the first time to go to that hotel Valentino didn’t miss his goons alerting him of the radio demon in his territory. Overlords that didn’t work together had a mutual understanding to avoid each other’s territories unless it was to form a treaty or to challenge one another, so to hear Alastor was in his territory was curious.

He’d watched from his office as the radio demon approached the building but after a long moment turned on his heel and walked away. The moth was about to dismiss the incident until he noticed the glowing red thread attached to the radio demon that was pulled painfully tight to the other side of the studio door. With narrowed eyes Valentino looked at the lobby’s security camera before a growl slipped from his throat seeing none other than Angels Dust on the other side of the door with his thread pulled just as tight.

If it had been any other demon, any other useless excuse of an afterlife, Valentino wouldn’t have given it a second thought but the fact that Angel was bound to The Radio Demon posed a huge threat. While Valentino himself had no real quarrel with the other overlord, Vox did, a rivalry that had been brewing from the moment Vox entered Hell. There were many ways Val was sure he could spin this to benefit his partner there were just as many risks that Alastor could use the connection to bring both Vox and Valentino himself crashing down from their thrones should the urge to protect his soulmate take over.

For a while it seemed like the moth wouldn’t have to worry about the connection, under close watch Alastor seemed indifferent to Angel for a long time...until it changed. Angel did something Val didn’t see that drew the radio demon in and now they were becoming closer. Getting Angel a show slot at Devil’s Heaven had been messy and tedious but it was Val’s best bet to get the spider away from the hotel and remind him where he belonged, and with luck pull him away from Alastor. What he hadn’t planned on was Alastor showing up in the VIP booth with the prospect of forming a contract.

As unexpected as it was the situation also offered the perfect opportunity to keep Angel away from the radio demon for good, he just had to play his card right, and up until this very moment Valentino believed he had played a perfect hand. The moth demon stubbed out his cigarette on the desk leering at the orb as he watched Angel and Alastor walk side by side up the stairs of the hotel, Angel wearing a soft smile and faint blush, until they reached a door on the second floor. He couldn’t hear what was being said but he didn’t need to as he watched Alastor give a smile to the spider before kissing his knuckles and continuing down the hall leaving Angel flushed and breathless.

“Fuck!”

The moth knocked the orb from the desk letting it crash to the floor and go dark. He needed a new plan, something that would ensure the two demons failed to grow close enough in the remaining two days to render his contract with Angel broken but as long as the Spider was temporarily contracted with Alastor there wasn’t much he could do. As he sat and thought his phone lit up drawing his eye to see a message from Vox. A dark smile grew on the moth’s face...there wasn’t much **_he_** could do but there was plenty a few other demons could do.


	7. VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright my darling demons it’s finally done! The revamping of this chapter took a little longer than I originally planned but I am so much happier with the end result than the original one and now I have more ideas on now to move forward the way I originally planned!
> 
> I thank each and everyone of you for your patients while I re-wrote this chapter and I really hope you enjoy!
> 
> A/N2: **WARNING THIS CHAPTER INVOLVES SUBJECTS LIKE BULLYING, PARENTAL DEATH, AND MENTIONS OF MURDER! PLEASE READ WITH A BIT OF CAUTION IF THESE SUBJECTS BOTHER YOU!!!**

When Angel woke the next morning there was a small nagging in the very back of his mind, something wasn’t right. As he looked out the window of his room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary for the city around the hotel, he managed to push the tiny feeling aside and ignore it as he got ready for the day. A quick shower and some light powder later the spider stood in front of his closet examining the contents thinking about what to wear when the slight nagging popped up in his gut again making him furrow his brows.

Walking back to the bed the spider picked up his phone and quickly scrolled through any platform Val could get in contact with him but found nothing. Sitting on the bed Angel stared at his phone trying to pin down the annoying feeling with little luck.

“Maybe I’m just gettin’ antsy, been awhile since I haven’t had Val harpin’ on me to get to the studio for this long.”

At his owner's muttering Fat Nuggets stood from his spot on the bed and gently nudged his way into Angel’s lap earning a small smile that slowly relaxed and grew.

“Yeah that's it, I’m just overthinkin’ nothin’!”

He scooped the piglet into his upper arms returning to the closet after tossing the phone onto the center of the bed unaware of the way the screen glitched and distorted for a brief second before going dark as it landed. After some back and forth with Fat Nuggets Angel finally settled on wearing a simple wine red knit sweater that hung off his shoulders, a pair of black leggings, and a pair of fuzzy red socks. The outfit was outside his normal color preferences but with the day's activity in mind he figured wearing red might just help score a few brownie points with Alastor. Once his exposed fur was brushed and light makeup applied, the spider scooped up his pet from the floor, being sure to scratch behind his ears, before leaving his room forgetting about his Hellphone on the bed.

**♥♥♥**

Alastor had taken up residency in the hotel library once again, dressed down in just his red undershirt and slacks, with a book of French poems in his hands as soft jazz floated around the room from the radio at his side. The radio demon glanced out the large window beside him as his ears twitched and an instinctive feeling to stay inside ran over his body. With a simple snap of his fingers the jazz music stopped and switched over to a static laiden weather report.

_”-The eastern and southern points of Pentagram City can expect storms this morning and well into the afternoon-“_

Alastor gave a slight sigh letting the radio switch back to music as his eyes turned back to the book in his hands, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about being out in the storm. Storms in Hell were vastly different than in the living world with winds that could easily demolish any slightly weak structure, if the rain wasn’t acidic enough to burn a demon unfortunate enough to be caught in it to their second death then it came down hard enough that flooding was unavoidable in places unprepared to handle the onslaught. The sound of a small snort drew his attention to the doorway of the library, the moment his eyes landed on Angel he had to quickly remind himself to breathe.

Angel stood in the doorway holding Fat Nuggets wearing a lovely wine red sweater that delightfully complimented his snowy fur and made his pink markings stand out without washing them out, he’d paired the sweater with a simple pair of black pants and a pair of cozy looking red socks. Alastor was powerless to stop the thought of how wonderful the spider looked in his colors. As he watched Angel glanced away with a small blush before giving a small smile.

“Heya Smiles, I was wonderin’ if ya’d wanna help out in the garden today, soil should be ready for seeds and stuff now.”

The radio demon finally forced himself to snap out of his thoughts and return the small smile.

“I don’t think so Angel, the weather isn’t ideal for gardening.”

The spider furrowed his brow entering the library and going to the window looking out.

“What are ya talkin’ about Smiles? Sure it’s a bit cloudy but that ain’t nothin’.”

Alastor only chuckled under his breath and shook his head as he looked back to his book, though the poem held no interest at the moment. Angel pouted and opened his mouth to demand an answer but before the words could leave his throat the grey sky lit up with a bright flash of lightning followed closely by a deafening clash of thunder. The spider whipped his head around and looked out the window as the fading sound of thunder was replaced by the harsh pelt of rain leaving him stunned and baffled.

“How did ya…are ya psychic or some shit Smiles?”

Alastor couldn’t hold back his chuckle even if he tried before looking at the spider with a raised brow and a playful smirk.

“Wouldn’t you like to know my dear.”

Angel sat on the couch across from the radio demon, set the piglet on the cushion beside him, and crossed his arms pouting, though his eyes were playful.

“I would actually cause that was pretty freaky that it started almost instantly.”

Alastor shook his head looking back at his book.

“I am not psychic, far from it, call it instinct if anything.”

Angel raised a brow but his pout fell into true curiosity.

“So yer tellin’ me ya felt it was gonna rain?”

The radio demon didn't answer for a moment as he thought over how to answer, Angel was a spider demon did his animalistic attributes not include base survival instincts?

“In a way I suppose you could say that, but I also do know how to listen to weather forecasts my dear.”

Angel’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he folded both sets of arms looking at the floor. Alastor tried to hide his smile but decided not to make things worse and instead went back to his poems. After a couple long moments Angel’s tentative voice broke the rain heavy silence.

“So whatcha readin’? Some kinda spell book?”

Alastor lifted his eyes from the book with a raised brow until he remembered the book was in French meaning Angel probably had no clue what the golden letters against the navy cover said. A smile crossed his face, softer than normal as he shook his head.

“Not hardly, my spell books are locked away in radio tower and away from other demons.”

Angel gave a small ‘oh’ in understanding before he leaned closer trying to glimpse at the contents.

“So what is it then?”

Alastor felt his heart falter for a moment as the spider stood and made his way to stand beside the chair looking at the pages with a childlike curiosity. Clearing his throat the radio demon adjusted his hold on the book so the spider could see better.

“They are poems, a few of my favorites from when I was alive.”

Angel nodded in understanding as his mismatched eyes scanned the foreign words without understanding them before he gave a playful crooked smile.

“Somehow I ain’t surprised ya like poems Smiles, seems pretty in character for ya.”

Alastor glanced up at the spider as the other demon leaned closer, his hand now resting on the radio demon’s shoulder as his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Though I don’t see how ya can read ‘em, don’t even look like words.”

Alastor rolled his eyes but after a moment of thought he flipped ahead a few pages in the book and after clearing his throat, pushing down his radio host voice for something a little smoother, more like his human voice, before he began reading.

_**”Mignonne, allons voir si la rose  
Qui ce matin avoit desclose  
Sa robe de pourpre au Soleil,  
A point perdu ceste vesprée  
Les plis de sa robe pourprée,  
Et son teint au vostre pareil.** _

_**Las ! voyez comme en peu d’espace,  
Mignonne, elle a dessus la place  
Las ! las ses beautez laissé cheoir !  
Ô vrayment marastre Nature,  
Puis qu’une telle fleur ne dure  
Que du matin jusques au soir !** _

_**Donc, si vous me croyez, mignonne,  
Tandis que vostre âge fleuronne  
En sa plus verte nouveauté,  
Cueillez, cueillez vostre jeunesse :  
Comme à ceste fleur la vieillesse  
Fera ternir vostre beauté.”** _

Angel’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open in amazement, he had no clue what the radio demon had just read but it sounded beautiful especially with Alastor’s voice free of its normal transatlantic radio host sound.

“W-wow Smiles I didn’t understand a word of that but it sounded beautiful.”

Alastor offered a soft smile in response, using every ounce of control to not let his cheeks warm as Angel sat himself on the arm of the chair, still using the radio demon’s shoulder as a support, and looked over the pages of the book.

“Would you like for me to translate?”

The spider demon thought for a moment, the words sounded so beautiful in French he wasn’t sure if they’d be the same in English but he was curious, and so he nodded giving a smile and faint blush as he leaned on the other demon. Alastor felt his cheeks warm the slightest bit but quickly pushed it down returning his focus to the poem at hand.

_**”Darling, let us see if the rose  
Which had this morning unfurled  
Her crimson dress to the Sun,  
Has this evening began to lose  
The folds of her crimson dress,  
And its complexion akin to yours.** _

_**Alas! See how in such short time  
Darling, she has from her lofty place,  
Alas! Alas dropped her beauty to the floor!  
Oh truly cruel Mother Nature,  
For such a flower lasts  
Only from morning till evening!** _

_**So, if you believe me, darling,  
While your age is blossoming  
In its most green freshness,  
Gather, gather your youth:  
For old age will fade your beauty  
As it has the rose.”** _

Angel felt his heart skip a few beats as Alastor moved one hand from the book to his side further steadying him on the arm of the chair.

“Sounds just as pretty in English, guess I can see why ya like these ones.”

Instead of responding Alastor turned the page to a new poem and once again began reading out loud. It wasn’t something he got the chance to do often in his afterlife, Husk didn't care for poetry and try as she might Niffty could rarely sit still long enough to hear more than a couple poems, Angel it seemed was more than happy to listen as his eyes followed along the words in the book as best as he could the content smile never leaving his face.

After a few poems Angel had somehow ended up sitting sideways in the radio demon’s lap so his legs draped over the other arm of the chair, his head resting against Alastor’s shoulder and his eyes closed listening to the radio demon read, the soft rhythm of music from the radio, and the pelting rain outside. Alastor wasn’t sure how Angel had worked his way into his lap but as the spider relaxed against him, listening quietly, and occasionally opened his eyes to watch the pages turn the radio demon couldn't bring himself to mind too much.

Alastor turned another page and felt his heart freeze as a small sprig of purple flowers slid down near the edge of the book, perfectly preserved thanks to being firmly pressed between the covers and a little magic. Angel noticed the hesitance to keep reading and opened his eyes.

“Al?”

The radio demon carefully picked up the pressed flowers looking them over. Angel looked at the flowers for a moment before lifting his head to see Alastor’s face taking in the slight pain and sadness before looking back at the flower.

“That’s heather ain’t it?”

Alastor snapped out of his thoughts at the question before he nodded watching as Angel looked at the poem, though the spider knew next to no French something about the flower tipped him off to the poem.

“Heather normally means things like good luck an’ protection but a lotta people used ta put it in funeral bouquets for someone close ta them like a child or parent.”

Alastor was surprised to hear the spider not only knew the meaning of the small flowers but some of the history behind it. Slowly he nodded again watching as Angel gently touched the pressed flowers.

“They’re for yer ma ain’t they?”

Alastor let out a heavy sigh but nodded.

“Yes. I discovered this poem for the first time after I returned to New Orleans, in one of her books I brought with me. She would read poems to me often instead of stories but she never read this one to me yet somehow I connected with it more after her death than any poem before.”

Angel’s brows knitted together as he watched the radio demon replace the pressed flowers back to their spot in the book, lingering before turning the page.

“How did she die?”

The words left Angel’s mouth before he could stop them as Alastor readied to read the next poem. The radio demon felt the start of the poem die on his tongue before his smile fell and he stared at the words.

“The Spanish Flu. I was living alone in New Orleans, the up and coming young radio host I always wanted to be, when a family friend called and said she was ill and while he did everything he could it didn’t look like she had long left. I left New Orleans and made it back to her side as fast as I could but by then she only had hours left.”

Angel’s eyes filled with sadness, and understanding, and before Alastor could predict it the spider wrapped his primary arms around the radio demon’s neck and held him close. At first Alastor wasn’t sure how to react but slowly he rested one hand on the spider’s back and relaxed into the hold closing his eyes as he rested his head on Angel’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry ta hear that Al. It musta been hard loosin’ her like that, even worse endin’ up down here away from her.”

For a long moment the radio demon said nothing but as Angel began to worry he’d crossed some line Alastor’s arm wrapped fully around him and to Angel’s surprise he laughed, though the sound was off without the normal laugh track under it.

“Trust me darling, I knew long before mother died I was ending up down here.”

The spider shook himself from his surprise and glanced down at the demon leaning on his shoulder.

“How come? What did ya miss a day of church?”

Alastor laughed again but it was a little more hollow, mocking.

“We didn’t go to church. My mother’s family had a different religion and practice. Tell me my dear, does the name Marie Laveau ring any bells?”

Angel thought for a moment, his fingers messing with the ends of Alastor’s hair, mildly surprised the radio demon was allowing so much contact between them.

“A little, she was some voodoo lady wasn't she?”

Alastor finally lifted his head though he didn’t push Angel away, just rested his free arm on the side of the chair by the spider’s feet propping his cheek on his hand as he watched Angel.

“That’s the basics of it, yes. Marie Laveau was known as the queen of Voodoo in Louisiana in the 1800’s and my great grandmother. Voodoo was the practice of choice in my family, it is still my preferred source of deeper magic.”

Angel watched as Alastor sat a bit straighter and held his free palm between them easily summoning a few glowing sigils, letting them twirl in the air between them for a moment before fading.

“The practice of Voodoo along with the color of our skin made us nothing more than outcasts in the small town my mother and I called home. They hated us and thought we were evil, the children made it a point to teach me that every chance they could in the most violent ways. When I was ten years old one of the local bullies followed me into the bayou, to an abandoned boat house I used as a secret workshop and tried to corner and attack me. I killed him with a hunting knife I kept hidden under the workbench. Once he was dead I drug his body into the swamp and after filling the pockets with stones I let nature deal with it, I never told anyone and no one ever suspected me, getting away with it was too easy.”

Angel’s eyes widened making Alastor chuckle leaning on his hand once more.

“That was only the first. Over the next six years people who would try to harm mother or I would mysteriously go missing in the bayou, never to be seen again, eventually they learned to leave us alone and make their assumptions from a distance. That’s when I decided it was safe to go to New Orleans and try my hand at being a radio host. I tried to convince my mother to move with me but she didn’t want to, she wanted to stay and told me that it was my dream waiting in the city not hers, and so I set off on my own at 16. It was rough starting out, no one wanted to hire me at the larger radio stations, but after a few months I was hired as a host for a small station. It wasn’t glamorous or well paying but it paid enough that I could afford a room in a boarding house and I was happy as could be.”

Angel raised a brow crossing his arms.

“Somehow I doubt a few murders in defense an’ practicin’ Voodoo was enough ta damn ya Smiles.”

Alastor couldn’t have held back the laughter if he tried leaving Angel slightly confused.

“It wasn’t just a few murders. No once I began living in New Orleans killing had become an itch I had to scratch. I had over a hundred victims by the time I was killed in 1933.”

As he finished speaking the radio demon gave a slight sigh. From the beginning he’d never been surprised at waking up in Hell but his animal attributes as a demon seemed like some kind of twisted joke. His whole human life his mother had called him her _petit faon_ which translated to little fawn in French, if that had been the reasoning for his form he’d loathe it a bit less but it seemed either God or Lucifer had a twisted sense of humor. He’d hunted his victims like game animals in life, he’d died like a game animal, it would only complete the cycle for him to become a game animal himself in death.

Alastor was pulled from his thoughts by the feeling of fingers brushing his bangs aside and Angel leaning a bit closer looking at his forehead.

“Is that where this came from? Yer death?”

The radio demon gave a slight smile letting the spider examine the small x shaped scar on his forehead.

“Part of it, yes. A gunshot between the eyes was the finishing blow.”

It wasn’t a normal thing for the deer demon to allow others close enough to touch him, let alone examine his death scar so close but the spider was already in his lap and as the rain slowed outside the hotel Alastor couldn’t bring himself to really care as Angel carefully traced it with a pink claw. Suddenly Alastor’s eyes opened, his ears flicking to attention, and the sudden crushing urge to run overtook his body, before Angel could more than open his mouth the radio demon had already scooped him up and jumped as far away from the window as the library would allow placing Angel between himself and the doors.

“S-Smiles? What's goin’ on? Why did ya-“

The spider’s worded were cut short by the loudest crash of thunder either had ever heard, Alastor internally cursed his sensitive ears as they began to ring loudly from the sound, followed quickly by an invisible shield surrounding them as the wall where the window had been exploded inward spraying the room with dust and drywall. Angel instinctively raised his arms to cover his face but slowly lowered them as his fur stood on end, nearly crackling with static electricity as the scent of rain and electricity filled the room. The spider raised his eyes to the new whole in the wall as Alastor stepped back blocking him more, the radio demon snapping his fingers and summoning his microphone, his mismatched eyes widening at the figure grinning evilly as it stepped through the wall.

“Vox, surely you could have been more civilized and came to the front door.”

The television demon only chuckled with a sharp smirk.

“Nah, this is more fun.”

Alastor narrowed his eyes at the other demon, radio static crackling in the air mixing with the physical electricity.

“Why are you here?”

Vox glanced behind Alastor at Angel and his smirk grew as he flexed his claws, blue bolts of electricity flowing between sharp claws.

“I’m here to challenge you old man, it’s about time to knock ya down from this antique throne you're on you ancient relic.”


	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello my darling demons! I want to firstly start off this chapter by saying a few simple words…*hides behind Alastor* Please don’t hate me!!!! What happens is happening for the sake of plot and will be righted in the end I swear so please don’t come for my head! (Not to mention if you come for my head then the story will go unfinished because I can’t write without a head and you’d be stuck with the events until said head is returned in working order!)!! *clears throat* now that I’ve said those few words I must also place something else here;
> 
> **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES THEMES SUCH AS VIOLENCE, BLOOD, FOUL LANGUAGE, MENTIONS OF DEATH, AND OTHER POSSIBLY TRIGGERING THEMES I’M FORGETTING!!! IF ONE OR ALL OF THESE THEMES BOTHERS OR UPSETS YOU THEN I ADVISE YOU PLEASE SKIP THIS CHAPTER!!!! IF YOU DO CHOSE TO READ PLEASE DO SO CAREFULLY!!!**

Angel was frozen in place, eyes wide in fear as he watched Vox take a step closer. A sound not unlike snapping bone drew his eyes to Alastor and he felt like ice was injected into his veins. The radio demon’s height grew until he was standing over Angel better matching Vox’s nine foot frame, any visible skin was dotted randomly with brightly glowing red sigils, his antlers had stretched to reach eight sharp twisting points, and Angel could just barely see a thick black liquid dripping from the other’s chin. He needed to run, he could feel the door knob jabbing into his back, but his body wasn’t responding to the feeling to flee.

As Vox raised one hand, aiming the snake like bolts of electricity at Alastor, Angel suddenly felt like he was falling backwards before hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled.

“Move you fucking idiot!”

It took Angel’s brain a minute to realize it was Vaggie yelling as Husk yanked him from the room, unceremoniously letting him fall on his ass in the hallway. Charlie quickly kneeled beside him putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Angel are you okay?! Can you get up? We have to get out of here!”

The spider glanced at her before his eyes were drawn back to the library as the whole hotel shook violently and a bright flash filled the room followed closely by the loud screech of static. Beside him Charlie flinched with a small yelp before Vaggie pulled her to her feet and into her arms.

“Come on dumbass get up! You heard her, we have to move!”

Angel finally felt his body start listening as he stood on shaky legs but his mind was still reeling. One second he and Alastor were sitting together just talking and reading then out of nowhere the wall of the hotel was blown to bits and now Alastor was fighting Vox. His thoughts were cut off as the building shook again, the sound of static deafening and the air charged with electricity. Shaking his head Angel started following after Vaggie and Charlie but froze in place hearing a distressed and scared squeal. Fat Nuggets was still in the room, in the middle of the fighting. It was a no brainer, Angel started back to the library door but was stopped by Husk’s right wing as the cat watched the fighting with careful eyes.

“Don’t even think ‘bout it kid, you’ll get slaughtered.”

Angel growled trying to push past the surprisingly stable wing.

“Nugs is in there! I ain’t gonna leave him!”

The old cat gave a low growl lowering his wing but still held Angel back by his arm making the spider growl back and try to pull free. Just as Angel was about to slip free a flash of pink came dashing out of the room making his eyes widen before his body relaxed hearing his piglet squealing as it hurried after Charlie and Vaggie. Husk released him and pushed him in the same direction.

“There now get the fuck outta here before ya get caught up in this shitshow.”

The spider was hesitant to leave the cat behind but as the building shook and a wild bolt of electricity blew another hole in the wall he didn’t need telling twice. Turning on his heel Angel quickly fled to the lobby where he found the girls, Charlie cradling a shaking Fat Nuggets in her arms. As he hurried over he took the piglet into his arms relaxing a bit seeing his pet was unharmed.

“We should get out of the building, if one attack hits just right the building isn’t safe.”

Vaggie nodded looking around until she found Niffty already waiting by the door. As the girls turned to follow Angel furrowed his brow at the princess.

“Can’t you do somethin’ about this? Yer the fuckin’ princess! Least ya could do is help Al!”

Charlie’s brows furrowed and she shook her head.

“I might be the princess Angel but this isn’t just a fight between any demons, it’s between overlords, very powerful overlords. If it was just Al I might stand a chance but trying to stop him and a demon like Vox, even I don’t have the power.”

The spider clenched his jaw, they couldn’t just run away! His thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion before outside the window drywall, brick and dust began to fall closely followed by Vox and Alastor, the radio demon slamming the television demon into the hard ground with his foot in the center of his chest earning a strangled cry of pain from the television demon as sparks shot out of his body and his screen began to crack. Angel felt a hand tugging on his arm making him realize Charlie was trying to pull him back away from the window, a little reluctantly he followed watching as Alastor laughed, his distorted smile widening as he raised his microphone ready to finish the fight.

Maybe Alastor didn’t need their help after all.

**♥♥♥**

Alastor heard Charlie’s worried voice and Husk’s grumbled confirmation before he felt Angel disappear from behind him, perfect timing as the radio demon summoned shadows to block two of the three snake like bolts of electricity Vox aimed at him, the third unfortunately hitting him in the shoulder do to a slight lag in reaction on his part. Something Vox took notice of and smirked.

“Don’t get distracted old man. Why waste time worrying about that whore anyway?”

Alastor clenched his jaw not only against the pain in his shoulder but against the snarl rising in his throat. The radio demon raised his microphone bringing shadows up from the floor as the mark on his forehead glowed a bright blood red. With a simple gesture the shadows surged at Vox coiling around the other overlord like a vice grip making his smirk turn into a grimace of pain making Alastor chuckle as he walked closer.

“I’ll give you the chance now to leave Vox, before you lose again and run back to Valentino licking your wounds like a pathetic puppy.”

Vox’s screen glitched wildly, displaying static snow covered snippets of old news footage of the radio demon standing tall without a scratch and Vox laying in a whole with a shattered screen and his sparking wiring exposed. The television overlord growled clenching his fist before throwing his arms out sending the shadows, and Alastor, flying back with a powerful wave of electricity.

“That’s not gonna happen this time old man, I’m going to rip you and this fucking hotel apart!”

Alastor barely had time to find his footing before blocking Vox’s claws with his microphone making his smile slip into a grimace as his feet slid back with the force of the attack. Alastor hated to admit it but in the last three decades since they had fought Vox’s power had grown, the other demon had evened the playing field now meaning this fight wasn’t going to be easy. His ear twitched at the sound of the girls and Angel reaching the lobby, he needed to get this fight out of the hotel with more room he could fight better without being cornered or risk further damage to the hotel.

“I wouldn’t get so cocky just yet Vox, this fight is far from over.”

With a little help from his magic Alastor pushed back against Vox and once the other demon had let go of his mic was able to swing it and send Vox crashing back through the hole he’d entered through. After glancing back at Husk, getting a slight nod from the old cat, Alastor followed after his opponent his smile returning as Vox landed hard on his back and cried out in pain as the radio demon’s foot came crashing down on his chest, the perks of having hooves meant the landing was more direct and less spread out.

As Vox’s cracked screen flickered and the demon groaned in pain Alastor brushed dirt from his jacket letting his form return to normal, but his smile was impossibly wicked and convinced he’d won. As the radio demon readied to walk away Vox smirked, his chance had presented itself just as planned. Cables shot out from his sleeve and coiled themselves tightly around the radio demon making Alastor’s eyes widen and his smile fall as he tried to struggle out watching Vox rise to his feet laughing maniacally.

“You fucking idiot! So sure you won a fight that has barely begun! Now I think it’s about time we tore apart your dusty old crown.”

Alastor growled as the x on his forehead began to glow, but Vox was ready. Before the radio demon could begin to shift to his true form strong volts of white electricity shot through the cables holding him drawing pained screams from Alastor as his concentration on his magic began to fade. Vox walked closer only stopping the shocks when he reached out and grabbed Alastor by one of his antlers leaning close to his face.

“I’ve always wondered if these stupid things were just for decoration, now I think they’ll make a perfect trophie.”

Alastor’s eyes widened but before he could so much as summon a shadow Vox gave a truly wicked grin and snapped off the antler. It hurt worse than the electrocution had, worse than any pain Alastor could ever remember as thick black blood began pouring from the missing piece of bone, soaking his hair and stinging his eye forcing it to close. Leering up at Vox with the eye not filling with blood Alastor snarled.

“You’re going to pay dearly for that Vox, I was going to be kind enough and spare your pathetic existence but now you’re going to die.”

Vox only laughed, twirling the broken antler in his hands.

“I doubt that old man, this fight is over.”

Before the radio demon could do anything more than begin trying to break free from the cables a separate snake-like bunch of cables raised Alastor’s microphone into view placing it into Vox’s waiting grip. Alastor froze as his gaze widened, true terror and real fear crossing his face in realization. Vox held the microphone in one hand trailing a claw over the stand watching the realization set in on the radio demon’s face. The cable that had stolen the microphone quickly slithered over the others and wrapped itself tightly around Alastor’s throat making breathing almost impossible.

“I should kill you, I could do it sooo easily right now but I think I can imagine a worse existence for an old relic like you.”

The radio demon’s eye widened in terror as Vox raised the microphone over his head before bringing it down hard on the ground, easily smashing the head, which emitted a high pitched distorted screech as deep red smoke curled in the air for a moment before fading as dozens of shadows began to rise from the ground.

**♥♥♥**

Hearing the horrid screech and seeing the quick movement of shadows around the hotel Angel was the first to run out of the main doors stopping cold in his tracks seeing Vox holding the shattered microphone and laughing like a mad man. Charlie, Vaggie, Niffty and Husk were quickly at his side, Charlie trying to say it wasn’t safe but her words were cut off as she realized what had happened. Husk’s fur bristled and his tail lashed angerly as he watched the shadows.

“Fuck, never thought I’d see the day.”

Charlie, now clinging to Angel’s arm more out of worry and fear than trying to get him away from the fight, looked at the old cat with pintched brows. Her mouth opened to ask what he meant but before she could all the gathered shadows, every last one Alastor had ever controlled, rushed at the radio demon as he was dropped by the cables. The inky blurrs quickly surrounded and ingulfed Alastor kicking up a harsh wind as they swarmed, the air was filled with screams of true agggony that sounded like whatever was happening inside the black mass was worse than death itself.

“What the fuck are they doin’?!”

Husk clenched his jaw watching the shadow dome as he flexed his wings and claws.

“Takein’ back their power, strippin’ him of everything but his base abilities.”

Angel’s eyes widened, he knew overlords could take each other’s powers if they were the victor of a challenge but even in Hell it rarely happened, most overlords just wanted the territory and the contracts of the loser. When the shadows finally separated and disappeared Alastor was laying on the ground at Vox’s feet clearly unconscious, his body far more damaged than it had been before, the wound on his head bleeding at a much more alarming rate, and his breathing dangerously shallow. Vox smiled evilly looking down at the deer demon before glancing over his shoulder.

“How the mighty have fallen, hmm old man?”

The only response he received was a barely audible groan from Alastor making him snicker before with a swift kick sent the other demon’s body to land painfully in front of Charlie and Angel.

Angel felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest as Alastor’s limp form landed on the ground in front of him and the red thread connecting them grew faint. Charlie was first to move, falling to her knees at Alastor’s side checking his pulse before her hands began to glow red as she moved them over his chest, Vaggie and Husk both moved at once to stand between Vox and the deer demon, Niffty hurried to Charlie’s side holding pieces of cloth quickly pressing them to his bleeding wounds, finally Angel fell to his knees and moved to Alastor’s other side taking a larger piece of cloth and pressing it to the bleeding gash on his head as tears formed in his eyes.

“Hang in there Al, we got ya.”

Vox raised a digital brow looking from the trio trying to heal Alastor to Vaggie and finally Husk as the old cat raised his wings blocking the others from view. The television demon gave a dark smirk as he flexed his claws.

“You don’t have to defend him anymore, I know you felt it the second I broke his talasman, you’re not bound to him anymore, he’s lost all his power.”

Husk’s fur bristled as he gave a low growl.

“I don’t give a damn ‘bout some fucking contract, he’s a friend an’ I’m not gona let you hurt him more you walking flat screen. Now get the fuck outta here before I shatter your fucking screen myself.”

Vox couldn’t say he was surprised at the response as he glanced back to the demons behind the cat, taking note of Angel holding the deer demon’s hand as Niffty began wrapping bandages around his wounds.

“Have it your way pussycat. Give me a call if you wanna work for a real overlord.”

Husk's only response was a hiss making the television demon roll his eyes as he turned and began walking away. He was barely out of view when he took out his Hellphone and sent Val a message telling him that Alastor wouldn’t be a problem any longer.


	9. IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to add this earlier and I apologize!!
> 
> **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE SUBJECTS SUCH AS SLEF BLAME, PARENTAL DEATH, CHILD ABUSE AND DOMESTIC ABUSE!!! IF THESE SUBJECTS ARE TRIGGERING FOR YOU PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION OR SKIP THE CHAPTER ALL TOGETHER!!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my darling demons! Look I finished it! When I tell you this chapter has been mostly done for awhile now I’m not joking. As soon as I planned on having Alastor fight Vox I already started writing this chapter! It was a bit harder to pin down how I wanted it to go but I’m happy with the end result! I really hope you all enjoy it as well! *hat tip* thank you all for sticking around through this and please enjoy the show!

Angel sat silently, too scared to make a sound or move, just watching and counting the slow rise and fall of Alastor’s chest. Husk had said the deer demon was stable nearly a day ago but Angel’s mind wouldn’t believe it and as a result he refused to move an inch from Alastor’s side. Instead he sat in the warm red glow of Alastor’s room, seated in a rather uncomfortable wingback chair, holding the radio demon’s hand gently in his own just counting his breaths and watching for any change. Charlie had come in half an hour ago to try, and fail yet again, to convince him to leave and rest but the spider had refused, he wanted to be close if something happened.

Glancing away from the other demon’s chest Angel looked at their hands, his thumb gently brushing Alastor’s knuckles even as they remained bandaged and unmoving. Tears began to fill his eyes as painful memories and old fears began to bubble up.

He was barely 15 at his mother’s funeral but he felt like he was a small child as the tears refused to stop. His older brother had an arm wrapped around him and his twin trying to hold a strong front but Angel had seen the tears rolling down his cheeks as they watched the casket be lowered into the ground and thunder rolled in the distance. His mother was gone and it was his fault, she’d died because she told his father to stop beating him and just let him be how he was, she died because his father was drunk and angry at him….it was his fault and now Alastor was close to death because of him.

Angel scooted closer to the bed sniffling a bit.

“S-Smiles, I don’t know if ya can hear me an’ t-thats okay.”

He paused to take a shuddering breath.

“Ya know how ya told me ya lost yer ma when you were young? Well I lost mine when I was a kid too.”

The spider looked down at their hands again feeling old wounds rip open and bleed.

“When I was 15 my pops caught me an’ Molls in her room, she was puttin’ makeup on me an’ I was wearin’ one o’ her dresses...he didn’t like that at all. Nothin’ new he always hated that I liked dressin’ up and havin’ Molls doll me up, hated that I was gay even more.”

Angel turned his eyes to Alastor’s face, despite the bruises and cuts the spider took a tiny fraction of relief in how peaceful the other demon looked.

“He beat the snot outta me right there, almost dislocated my shoulder, fucked up my eye, an’ called me every slur he could think of. My ma came in after he passed out an’ helped me bandage the wounds then she held me and let me cry until I had no more tears.”

The spider took another shaking breath as tears flowed faster.

“She told me she’d talk ta him, get him to see I was still his son an’ not ta worry ‘bout it.”

Angel leered hard at the red comforter of the bed, his tears turning angry.

“He started shoutin’ at her, I could hear ‘em fightin’ an’ I just covered my ears tryin’ ta block it out as I cried. Musta cried myself to sleep at some point cause next thing I knew Archie yanked me outta bed and told me ta get dressed. I was confused but I knew the look he had, somethin’ was wrong so I got dressed.”

The spider swallowed hard around a lump in his throat hiding his face in a free hand.

“H-he took Molls an’ me to the hospital, Molls kept askin’ what was goin’ on but he wouldn’t tell us till we got to her room. That bastard beat her till she passed out! Caused a lotta damage...Archie told me Pops was in jail because one o’ the neighbors called the cops but of course he got out cause our family had guys everywhere….Ma died two days later cause of the injuries.”

The damn finally broke and Angel started sobbing as he bent forward laying his forehead against Alastor’s wrist holding tight to his hand.

“ _Per favore non lasciarmi solo…_ You can’t leave me!”

The rest of the spider’s words turned incoherent with the sobs that shook his body leaving him unable to notice the hand in his own twitch before slowly closing.

“D-don’t cry _mon bel ange_ , I c-could never leave you.”

Angel’s head shot up with a shocked gasp, his tear reddened eyes meeting Alastor’s soft and tired gaze. New tears rushed down the spider’s matted cheeks as relief flooded him. Angel lunged forward, being as mindful of the other demon’s injuries as he could be, carefully wrapping his primary arms around Alastor’s shoulders and kissing him hard. Alastor went ridged for a long second before looping his own shaking arms around the spider and kissing him back holding him close.

At first Angel couldn’t feel anything besides their lips connecting and the warm feeling of Alastor’s arms around him but slowly it started changing and the warmth spread over his body, from his head to his feet he felt almost too warm and his hands began to tingle. Furrowing his brows Angel pulled away from the kiss looking at his markings seeing they were glowing brightly.

“W-What's goin’ on? I’m not doin’ this!”

He turned panicked eyes to Alastor who had a soft smile on his lips as he held one of Angel’s hands tight in his own.

“It’s alright _mon ange_ , breathe.”

Angel took a slow breath calming himself a little as Alastor let go of his hand to hold his face.

“What's happinin’?”

The radio demon gently ran his thumb over the spider’s cheek.

“Your soul is returning, and any power you might have had before Valentino contracted you is settling.”

Angel’s eyes widened before he looked down at his claws, flexing them a bit as the tingling feeling began to fade along with the glow of his markings.

“I-I’m free?”

Alastor nodded slowly.

“As a bird darling. You no longer belong to me or to Valentino, no one but yourself.”

Angel gave a watery chuckle shaking his head in disbelief.

“T-that’s impossible, how can I be free if Val didn’t rip up the contract? How did….you broke it?”

Alastor retook the spider’s hand in his own carefully moving to sit up against the headboard, wincing as pain shot over his body.

“No my dear, you broke it I merely helped. That night at the club when Valentino said I was holding your contract for three days?”

Angel nodded gently squeezing the other demon’s hand.

“What you didn’t know is that I signed my own contract with him. I would hold your contract for three days and if in those three days I could prove that I truly...care about you then your contract with him would break.”

The radio demon looked at the clock in the corner of his room and gave a slight chuckle, flinching as his ribs protested, as the hands struck midnight.

“Nothing like cutting it close darling.”

Angel looked at the clock unable to help his own slight chuckle before looking back at the radio demon with a furrowed brow.

“A-and if ya couldn’t do it?”

Alastor sighed softly closing his eyes, he was still incredibly tired, without his normal magic healing was taking most of his energy, but right now Angel needed to know everything.

“Then by the contract I signed my territories would become his and…..and you would go back to him and never come back.”

The spider’s eyes widened and a flurry of emotions flashed across his face, Alastor didn’t dare open his eyes to see them even as he felt Angel’s hand tighten around his own almost painfully.

“Ya gambled with my soul against Val? Ya risked losin’ everythin’ you've built for yerself down here an’ all my progress just ta free me?”

Alastor finally opened his eyes looking over at the spider, his heart tripping over itself seeing the mix of pain and amazement on the other demon’s face.

“Angel… _mon ange_ please don’t be cross with me, it was never my intention to let you return anywhere near him, whether I fulfilled the contract or not.”

As the deer demon watched Angel’s expression slowly shifted as his eyes teared up.

“You….you risked it all for me.”

The spider sniffled trying to hold back tears.

“Ya got hurt cause of that contract….cause of-“

“Don’t finish that sentence my darling, this isn’t your fault, the only crime you are guilty of is stealing my heart right from under my nose and wrapping it up in your web so it couldn’t escape.”

Angel tried to dry his eyes blinking in surprise as Alastor gently tugged his hand. Following the direction the spider carefully crawled into the bed and let the deer settle him in his lap, though it was hard to miss the way he bit his tongue against the pain it caused. Once he was settled Alastor gently wiped away the tears, his smile soft and it made Angel’s heart melt. The spider carefully snuggled closer, tracing his finger in a mindless patter on the other demon’s shoulder as he gave a small chuckle.

“Yer voice is different, the static is gone.”

Alastor leaned more on the pillows supporting his back giving a heavy sigh, ignoring how his broken ribs screamed.

“Yes, as is most of my power.”

That made the spider sit up to meet the other’s eyes.

“What do ya mean Smiles? Ya don’t have any magic?”

Alastor held his hand between them and with more effort than Angel ever imagined managed to conjure a barely visible green glow around his fingers. The spider furrowed his brows.

“What about yer sigils?”

Alastor let the glow fade as he gave a heavy sigh closing his eyes, if Angel didn’t know better he would swear the other demon looked consumed by a feeling of failure.

“Gone. The shadows have taken back their magic, my voodoo magic has been revoked from the moment Vox broke my microphone, my control over the radio waves is gone as well.”

Angel felt his heart drop.

“So yer…”

“Just a regular, powerless demon like most of the filth out there.”

Angel snuggled back up to the other demon, carefully nuzzling his neck.

“I’m sorry.”

Alastor held him closer, trailing careful fingers through his hair.

“Don’t be my darling, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Angel was quiet for a long moment, long enough Alastor was able to close his eyes and fall back asleep. Once the spider was sure the other demon was asleep he placed a hand over the deer’s heart closing his own eyes and he kissed the back of his own hand. Silly as it was it was something he and Molly had made up as kids, a promise that meant more in their minds than a pinkie promise.

“I’ll make ‘em sorry Al, I promise they’ll regret fuckin’ ya up like this.”

**♥♥♥**

As midnight began to draw near Val was feeling his smug smirk grow with each passing minute, by 11:45 he was sure he was grinning wider than the radio demon himself. From the second he’d gotten Vox’s message confirming the radio demon wouldn’t be an issue anymore the moth demon couldn’t wipe the smile away. The music from the club and the thoughts of having Angel Dust under his boot once more had him far too distracted to notice one of the contracts on his desk begin to glow until it was too bright to ignore. Val gave a deep chuckle lighting a cigarette finally turning his chair around to look at the contracts.

“Looks like I win Ala-“

The moth’s words died in his throat as he noticed it wasn’t the radio demon’s contract that was glowing but instead Angel’s. It was floating inches off the desk with a bright pink spider shaped mark glowing through the envelope. It was breaking. Val tried to grab the contract but before his claws could close around it, as the clock struck midnight, it burst into bright red flame until all that was left behind was a wisp of smoke in the shape of the spider mark which quickly faded with a mocking giggling chirp. Once the shock of what just happened faded away the moth overlord snarled and grabbed the crystal orb from the corner of his desk.

“Show me the whore!”

The orb flickered to life and after a moment displayed a picture of Alastor and Angel sitting in a red bathed room. Alastor was alive, barely, bandaged and bruised and curled up in his lap toeing the line of awake and asleep was Angel. If the spider was aware of his new freedom he didn’t show it but Val had learned early on that Angel could be trickier than he let others think, he wasn’t stupid. Snarling Val threw the orb onto the floor watching it roll until it came to a stop bumping against something. The moth raised a brow at the odd sound before looking up at what the orb had run into. Standing near the door, trying to keep the fear from her face through the magically locked muzzle, was Abby the only other spider demon in his employment.

Val narrowed his eyes leaning back in the chair, she’d seen the contract break; it would only be a matter of time before the female spider began to rebel for her own freedom. Abby dropped her eyes to the floor, her claws digging into the fabric of her mini skirt. After a moment of thought the moth gave a wicked grin, just because Angel wasn’t under contract any more didn’t mean he couldn’t be brought back, there was more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case a spider, and right now Val had the perfect bait to lure the pink spider right back into his gilded cage.

**♥♥♥**

Even in unconsciousness Alastor couldn't completely ignore the pain of his body slowly healing. His ribs were angrily protesting each breath, the many cuts and bruises over his skin were stinging under the slight weight of Angel cuddling close to him, and his missing antler working to heal was starting to give him a horrible headache. The deer slowly opened his eyes, looking down at the spider snuggled against his chest, it was going to be an adjustment, after nearly a century of relying heavily on his magic, but he supposed being upset about it wasn’t going to do him any good.

The deer demon carefully lifted one hand and pointed it at the old radio on the nightstand, concentrating hard on the action he wanted what little magic he naturally possessed to accomplish. His hand began to glow green and for a moment it looked as though he was close to making the radio flicker to life, he could practically feel the dial turning, but before it could his magic gave out leaving him winded and frustrated. Looking up at the deep crimson canopy of his bed Alastor clenched his jaw. How could he have been so reckless, falling for Vox’s trap, letting his guard down, and letting the walking flat screen get a hold of his talisman.

Despite the rumors that had brewed throughout the decades out of fear Alastor did not awaken in Hell with the ability to control shadows or radio waves, he just had incredibly strong magic and a hunting instinct that rivaled a pack of starving wolves. No the voodoo layer of his magic had come nearly five years after he’d awoke, when he began going after larger, more powerful prey. He’d just killed his third overlord when the shadows rose and surrounded him, he could still feel their icy grasp on his limbs at the memory, before a singular shadow stepped forward. It grew from his own shadow but quickly became a towering deer-like creature with a cracked skull for a head, twisted antlers, and glowing red eyes. It chattered at him at first before speaking in a static heavy voice that sounded like a mashup of words from different stations.

“Ą̷̛͈͍͕̞̻̹͒̒̀̕͘͝ḻ̵̪̊̓̑̀̐̈̊͘̕͝a̵̡̜̙̝͆͂̊ş̷̜̪̹̝̜̺̘̖̭͐̏̂̒̆͝t̸̥͚̔͒͆̚͜o̴͙͉͇͝r̶̞̞̉.”

His name dripped off the creature’s tongue like the black liquid from its horns and jaw making him flinch away. He was ready to demand what the creature wanted but before he could red sigils began to float around them, he recognized the glowing symbols easily as they circled him before attaching to his skin. They burnt like white hot pokers but as they adhered to his flesh he could feel, see and hear things from all over Hell. The creature leaned close to him and pressed a black claw to the x on his forehead causing a searing pain to engulf Alastor’s body making him finally cry out. Seeing their opening the rest of the shadows rushed in, entering his body through the new marks on his skin and through his glowing death mark until only the large creature was left.

“M̷̨̙̼̮͖̙̫̬̗̒͗̈́̇̇͆͐̑͘a̴̫̳̩̠̺̋̈̍̑͋̄͝ͅs̴̮̼̼̆̍̈́̈̚ẗ̴̪̺̦́̅̾͋̾̓̒̆e̸̬̲̰͔͎͖̬͋͌̊̽̋̆͜r̸͈̭̮̱͔̖͉̿̀ͅͅ.”

The word was once again nearly engulfed in static but Alastor didn’t have the breath to question it before the creature turned back into his own shadow quickly attaching itself to him as he was dropped to the ground breathing hard, his death mark burning, and his claws tingling with an almost electric feeling. From that day on Alastor began quickly rising in power, Hell soon feared him and if anyone dared challenge him he ended then with a snap of his fingers.

The deer demon sighed heavily, more used to the pain it brought his ribs, as he remembered the first time Vox had challenged him. The television demon had barely been in Hell a decade and was a new overlord but he was young and cocky, which led to his hard downfall. Alastor sneered at the canopy above him, he should have ended Vox then and there then he wouldn’t be in this mess, he wouldn’t be powerless, broken and injured.

His attention was pulled from the toxic thoughts as Angel shifted a bit in his sleep, his pink claws curling tighter into the deer’s shirt before he settled back into sleep. Maybe it wasn’t all horrible, Angel was safe and free, he wouldn’t have to worry about the spider going back to Valentino and coming home beaten and bruised. The lack of spare energy began to catch up with Alastor yet again making his eyelids droop as he watched the slow rise and fall of Angel’s breathing. It didn’t take long before the deer was asleep once more, completely unaware of the buzzing of Angel’s Hellphone on the armchair seat.


End file.
